


pinwheel

by bobtheacorn



Category: One Piece
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Gen, Platonic Shit for the most part but some of it's a little Frisky-er
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-19 20:38:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 27,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9459560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobtheacorn/pseuds/bobtheacorn
Summary: She's in it for the money, he's in it for the pleasure. That sounds awfully suggestive, doesn't it?





	1. staying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drum Island (+Vivi)

Vivi has grown accustomed to sleeping among her enemies.  She hasn't trusted anyone except Karoo enough to rest truly and soundly for years, now, so it is no surprise to her when she still falls to the old habit aboard the Merry Go, where she is surrounded by unyielding friends.  She hears the footsteps overhead, muffled by the heavy boards, and opens her eyes, intent on the sound.  A door creaks open, followed a few moments later by the distant slush of water from the bathroom, and Vivi relaxes.  It's one of the boys, probably trading off the watch.  She pulls her blanket up to cover her shoulders, ready to drift back to sleep.

Her eyes fly open, however, when the hatch lifts and someone comes thumping down the stairs.

This is new.

She rolls over and leans up on her elbows, her blue hair trailing to the floor.  At first she thinks it's Sanji coming to check on Nami.  It's dark in the cabin, but Vivi's eyes are well-adjusted and she has no trouble seeing who it is when he drops his sandals at the base of the stairs, his teeth clattering audibly, though he likely hasn't registered the weather chilling as it slowly stabilizes.

"Luffy," Vivi says softly, "Is something wrong?"

Luffy doesn't even seem to hear her.  He walks right past her, subconsciously rubbing his arms to generate some warmth, his bare feet scuffing the plush rug.  He stops at Nami's bedside and looks her over - her condition hasn't improved any.  Her fever is still high, she's still breathing laboriously, and she hasn't managed to eat anything the past few days, hardly more than a few spoonfuls of Sanji's healthiest, warmest batch of please-get-better-soon soup.  Luffy, in her stead, has eaten more than usual, and he stands there looking at her for so long, without moving or saying anything, that Vivi almost begins to wonder if he's fallen asleep on his feet.

It wouldn't surprise her.

She smiles.

Just when she opens her mouth to call his name again, Luffy finally moves - and Vivi gasps sharply.  He pitches forward, twisting slightly so he falls shoulder first, and drops onto the edge of the bed, laying with his back to Nami and taking up as little space as possible.  His straw-hat slips off his head, drifting silently to the floor.  Luffy crosses his arms, tucking his hands into his armpits, and heaves a sigh through his nose.  The disturbance is enough to wake Nami (a feat, considering they've all been in and out countless times, yelling and carrying on with no bedside manners to speak of, and Nami hasn't so much as batted an eye at them), and before Vivi can draw in the breath to reprimand the selfish pirate for disturbing Nami's rest, Nami is sitting up, herself, and pushing the thick comforter aside.

Not knowing why she does it, Vivi collapses onto her pallet, burying her face in her pillow, and pretends to be sleeping.

"Luffy... what're you doing...?"

The words come out slowly, Nami pausing to catch her breath.  Vivi turns her head to the side, uncovering one eye.  She can see that Nami's face is flushed with that horrible lingering fever, even in the dimness, and she watches as Luffy leans back slightly so that he can look at his navigator, too.

His voice is steady.

"Usopp says it's freezing outside.  I didn't want you to get cold."

Nami gives him a weak chuckle, surprising them both, and presses her hand to her forehead.

"I don't think... I'll be getting cold anytime soon," she says, smiling.

Luffy grins back at her, immediately.

He's been trying to get her to smile for days.

"Great," he says, "Go back to sleep, now.  I'm stayin' right here."

For a moment, Nami hesitates.

"...Fine," she says quietly, amusement edging through her exhaustion as she half-heartedly tugs on the blanket, "I don't have the energy to argue with you.  ...But at least get under the blanket.  I won't be able to get comfortable with you laying on top of it like that."

Hastening to obey, Luffy sits up and makes sure, instead, to pile all the blankets on top of Nami - an action that she vehemently protests, "Stop that and get under here, you're going to smother me...!"  It's nice to know that her temper is still somewhat healthy.  Vivi hears Luffy laughing softly and apologizing, and Nami sighing as she makes room for him.  But Luffy lays down along the edge of the bed again, well out of Nami's space, leaving one foot hanging over the side and dangling out of the comforter's reach.

He lays there for all of three seconds before he leans back again, straining to look at Nami.

"Do you need anything?"

" _I'm fine, Luffy,_ " she insists.

"Are y'sure?  You don't want any food?"

"No, Luffy...  If you're hungry, go get something."

Luffy faces forward, frowning with stubborn resolve, and Vivi raises her head slightly, wondering what he's going to say.

"Sanji'll make breakfast soon.  I can wait."

The room is unusually quiet for a while.  It's still hours before dawn, let alone breakfast - a good five hours, at the least - and Luffy is always hungry.

"...Thanks, Luffy," Nami murmurs, so softly that Vivi can barely hear her, "For staying."

Luffy presses his face into the mattress, "Get some rest.  We'll find a doctor soon."

"Alright, Captain..."

Vivi allows herself a tiny smile, closing her eyes.

 


	2. nice n' warm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: LEATHER

At the first drop in temperature (more like plummet, really), Nami dons her new coat.  It's soft leather, lined with fur, that hugs her form and hangs down nearly to her knees.  It's the warmest thing she's ever been wrapped in in her entire life - a little expensive, but worth it.  Entirely worth it.  She stands out on the deck, watching the snow falling in slow heavy drifts, and buries her hands in the fur-lined pockets.  For once she isn't shivering; she's even smiling as she checks the log pose on her wrist.

And then she feels a tug at the back of her coat, near the bottom.  The tug is light at first, and then more forceful, pulling the coat away from the back of her legs, and Nami twists around, scowling, to see who it is.  Luffy intrudes on her space - _on all of her space_ \- so quickly and clumsily that Nami can't do anything other than be jostled back and forth and shout in wordless protest.  Her feet actually _leave the deck_ as Luffy pulls the back of her coat over his head, and his shoulders.  He straightens up, tugging and squirming, until his head pops up through the fur-lined collar of Nami's coat.

Shivering, his teeth chattering, he tries to shove his arms in through her sleeves, as well, but there isn't enough room.  He settles for winding his arms around her waist and presses his cold nose against the back of her neck.

"J-jeez, it's c-c-c-cold!" he mutters and shakes, his breath warming her skin.

Even through her thick cotton shirt, Nami can feel just how cold he is, flush against her back; his bare arms and legs, his knees pressing into the back of hers, all feel like ice.  He shudders, convulsing against the persistent cold, and it all ruins the perfectly-contained warmth she was so delighted with.

"What're you doing!" she snaps, finally managing to find her voice now that he's relatively still, "Get outta here, you're freezing!"

She tries to step away, to dislodge him, but her shoes only slide against the snowy deck and she realizes she'd fall and bust her ass if he wasn't so damn sturdy.  Luffy's arms tighten, holding her closer, and he buries his face in her shoulder.

"N-no way, y-you're nice 'n warm."

"I _was_ until you crawled up my back!  There isn't room for this, go get your own coat!"

"T-too cold!"

"If you weren't so stupid, you wouldn't be cold!  Now get out!"

"Nope," she feels him grin.

For a moment, she's tempted to unbutton the coat and shake him out of it herself - it was far too expensive to just let him have the damn thing, he's the type who ruins coats.  But she doesn't get much of a chance to make up her mind, because Luffy decides that sharing the coat just isn't enough to warm him up.

"We need meat," he tells her suddenly.

He tightens his around her waist, hoists her off her feet, and walks them into the galley, where he demands, around Sanji's screams of outrage ( _"What are you doing to Nami, you ruffian, get out of there this instant!  I won't allow such an affront to her personal space to go unpunished!"_ ), that they have stew for dinner.

 


	3. tobacco-covered wasp stings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: CIGARETTE

Nami doesn't have much patience at the moment.

Being ravaged by a horde of aggravated wasps will understandably do that to even the most genial person, and she was only trying to enjoy some sunbathing.  Was that too much to ask for?  A few hours of peace, lying in the warm sun?  Nami sits on the bench in the galley, wrapped in Sanji's black coat, with one foot on the floor and the other propped on the bench in front of her.  She scowls, dabbing tobacco onto several tender wasp stings on her calf with one hand and holding half of a damp, broken cigarette in the other.

_"It's supposed to draw the poison out."_

She remembers Belle-mere telling them that, the first time her and Nojiko got stung, and it brings an inadvertent smile to Nami's face.

Propping her elbows on her knees, Nami twists the crumpled end of the cigarette, lost in thought as she tears out more tobacco.  When she sets the cigarette on the table and glances back at her knee, Luffy is suddenly there, crouched beside her, staring at her leg.

Nami jerks back in surprise, _"Luffy!"_

He glances up at his name and her anger flares again like a whip.

"Y'know, I'm still pissed at you!" she says, tentatively crossing her arms, where there are dozens of other sting marks that she's already tended to.  Sanji was very open-handed with his cigarettes, considering she was the one who asked for them.  "If you hadn't tripped over me like an idiot I wouldn't have gotten stung so much!"

"What're you doing?" Luffy asks, instead of responding to the accusations.

He points to her leg, the tobacco-covered wasp stings.

Nami frowns at the question - isn't it obvious what she's doing? - and takes the moment to really look at him.  He isn't much better off than she is; his neck and face are the worst (okay, so she kicked him in the face, _once_ , but he needs to pay attention to where his hands are going if he's going to grab you and drag you away to safety, especially when you're only wearing half a bikini), but his arms and legs have garnered a fair amount of stings where they're exposed, as well.  They're all red and starting to swell, but he hasn't said anything about them hurting.

Honestly, she isn't surprised.

Whatever kind of rubber he's made of, it's the kind that doesn't complain.

Nami sighs, dropping her other foot onto the floor so she's straddling the bench, and picks up the cigarette.

"Here," she says, tearing what's left of it in half and handing it to him.  Luffy grimaces, but takes it, his eyebrows knotted as if to say, _I don't want this thing._  Nami elaborates, pointing at his neck, where the swelling is definitely worst.  "Take the tobacco out and rub it on your wasp stings, it draws the poison out."

Luffy sits down on the floor beside her, looking at the cigarette as if he's seeing it in an entirely new light.

"Wow, really?" he asks under his breath, surprised, "That's cool!"

"Yeah, it would be even cooler if we didn't have to do it at all!" Nami says, smiling brightly.

Luffy chuckles, grinning and pulling at the ends of the cigarette, "Yeah."

Well, he isn't fluent in _sarcasm_ , so she lets that one slide.  She twists the white paper off her own half - and then she feels a warm hand on her thigh, too far up to be an accident, fingers pressing firmly into her skin.  Luffy pulls her knees farther apart (in hindsight, she wasn't sitting very lady-like in the first place, _but that's certainly no excuse_ ), and Nami gasps in surprise, dropping the cigarette.

She raises her hand immediately, to knock that straw-hat down his throat.

_"Idiot, what're you - "_

She stops though, her fist half-raised, because Luffy is rubbing the tobacco she gave him into one of the wasp stings on the outside of her thigh, pressing really hard with his thumb and concentrating even harder.  His eyebrows are drawn together and he's frowning slightly while he does it.  When he's satisfied he's done it right, he lets go to get more tobacco (way more than necessary, she notices).  Then he grabs her thigh again, in the same place, to keep her leg still, and moves on to another sting.

Slowly, Nami lowers her hand.

"Luffy, what're you doing?" she asks, exasperated.  She tries to pull her leg away, but Luffy's fingers tighten slightly and she realizes it's pointless.  "I gave that to you for _your_ wasp stings, they look terrible."

"I know," he says, still focused on her leg, "But... it's my fault you got stung so much."

She has nothing to say to that other than a slightly guilty, dismissive, "Well, it's just a few welts, it's no big deal," but Luffy doesn't let go until he's finished.

 


	4. iced tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: DRINK

When Nami ventures up that night from below deck to refill her glass, the air is thick and warm and smells like tangerines.

The breeze is steady, but slight, just strong enough to brush the main sail if it were open, but not enough to propel them forward at any sort of respectable pace.  Nami is at least reassured knowing that it will no-doubt pick up a bit before morning, and climbs the stairs up to the galley.  The night is bright and nearly cloudless, a full moon hanging overhead, glinting on the rhythmic waves, and Nami can see for miles and miles in either direction - nothing but an endless swatch of deep, dark sea and moonlit sky.  The sight makes her smile and she stands out on the deck for a few minutes, her empty glass in one hand and the other propped on her hip.

Finally, she goes inside to fill her glass, not bothering to cut on the light.  Only the captain (alright, and maybe the first mate) are stupid enough to get caught up in the booby trap, so Nami cracks an ice-tray and pours her sweet tea without incident.

It's on her way down the steps, sipping her tea, that she spots him.

Luffy is stretched out on the forecastle deck, staring up at the sky, and Nami pauses to watch him.  He's far too still to be sleeping and she wonders how long he's been lying there like that, because she doesn't remember seeing him when she first came up - then again, she wasn't looking around at the ship, either.  Curious, Nami goes to join him, the deck wood smooth and sturdy under her bare feet.  She sets her glass down nearby and sits, lying back beside Luffy, though she draws her legs up, knees pressed together, and crosses her arms, while Luffy is spread out flat like a towel drying in the sun.

He turns his head to look at her, lifting it slightly out of his straw-hat, which wobbles against the deck.

Nami flashes him an inquisitive smile,

"What're you doing out here?"

The back of Luffy's head _thumps_ lightly into his hat and he shrugs his shoulders, looking at the sparse clouds.

"It's nice outside."

"So you just decided to come and bask in the moonlight all by yourself?"

"I guess."

"You're awfully quiet."  She can't help noticing.  "Is something wrong?"

"No.  It's just... nice out here."  After a few moments in silence, he glances back at her.  "What about you?  Did you come outside to do that, too?"

Nami laughs, her eyebrows knotting as she looks at him, " _No._  What normal person does that?"

"Some flowers do it."

"Yeah, but I'm not a _flower_ ," she says, amused and surprised by the bit of knowledge (the fact that it came from her empty-headed captain, not so much the fact itself), "Anyway, I was thirsty, so I came to get something to drink."

He looks more attentive, now.

"What is it?"

"It's tea."

"The stuff in that big blue jug?"

"Yeah.  D'you want some?"

"I can't get in the fridge..."

"Well, I've got a glass right here, idiot.  I don't mind sharing."

She reaches over for the glass (the ice has melted some in the warm air, and there are tiny drops of water coating the thick, cool glass near the bottom, where the tea is darkest) and passes it to Luffy.  He sits up and takes it with both hands, leaving his hat on the deck.  The condensation slides down his arms as he takes a drink, downing half the tea, and Luffy rests his arms against his legs, his thumb absently wiping at the remnants of water on the glass as he looks out toward the sea.  The wind picks up, waving his dark hair, and then Luffy leans forward, without warning or reason, and lays his head against Nami's knees.

Nami sits up in surprise, leaning on her elbows, to look at him.

Luffy doesn't say anything, and she doesn't pull her legs away or shove him off.

The ice clinks softly, sinking and spreading into the tea, and Luffy lets out a deep, contented sigh.

 


	5. the biggest promise he can make

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arlong Park. prompt was: DAGGER

Luffy doesn't get up immediately, because he doesn't know what she's going to do.

He sees the dagger in her hand, the cold steel flashing in the sun - and he hears _that name_ , angry and broken, right as she brings it down.  The blade sinks into her shoulder, through that ugly mark, straight to the bone; even from where he's sitting, he can see the effort it takes to yank it free and the blood staining it, all the way to the hilt.  She screams that name - _again - and again_ \- and the second violent thrust of the dagger is just as strong and swift as the first.

The third time she wrenches it out of her skin, screaming and crying with rage, flinging blood across the ground, he gets up.

_That's enough._

He has no idea what's going on.  He can't see the tears streaming down her face, or the pain in her eyes, but he can _hear_ it and that's enough.  It doesn't matter how many times she stabs herself like that, or _why_ she does it - a fourth time, a fifth time, _a sixth time_ \- that name ringing like a hot bell in his ears.

He won't forget it.

The seventh time doesn't matter.

_The eighth time doesn't matter and they don't matter because he is going to be sure he gives every one of them back to that guy._

Nami thrusts the dagger down again, clenched and bloody in her fist, and this time Luffy stops it.

His fingers close around her wrist, squeezing too tightly, and the brutal, fluid movement stops; she doesn't even try to pull her hand free, slowly raises her head.  Nami looks at him over her shoulder - the clean one, not the ruined mess her other has become - and everything seeps out of her, all at once.  She says his name - _his name - Luffy_ \- and her is breath short, and her voice is small and not the same as before.

The anger is gone, but she clings to it, stubbornly - to the voice that has screamed at him and told him to go.  The dagger drops to the ground, falling from her limp fingers, and Nami bows her head so she doesn't have to look at him.

Her voice shakes.

"What do _you_ want?  You don't know anything about this..."

"Yeah.  I don't know."

Her shoulders shake, her fingers digging in the dirt as she grinds out the words,

"This has _nothing_ to _do_ with you... I told you to _leave this place!"_

"Yeah.  You told me."

_"SO LEAVE!"_

She slings dirt back at him, scraping it with her only good hand and screaming again, telling him to _leave, get outta here!  GET OUTTA HERE NOW!  GO!_  The dust covers his feet, rising in the air, the rocks and clumps of dirt she catches under her fingers bouncing off against his legs.  Luffy feels every glancing blow, hears her clearly when she says to _GO AWAY_ , but he doesn't.  He watches her shoulders shaking, the blood trailing in long ribbons down her arm, and listens to her fervent cries for him to _go_ until she can't choke the word out anymore.

 _Nami cries, and shudders, and gasps for air, and cries_ \- and Luffy listens and watches, his insides burning.

Finally, she says his name again, her voice wavering in the middle, "Luffy..."

She looks at him, her eyes brimming with tears.

_"Help..."_

Luffy takes off his straw-hat, pressing it down over her head.

That's the biggest promise he can make and he intends to keep it.

 


	6. everything he loves or needs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: MEMORIES

His most vivid memories are always _after_ the fights.

When he's sore and tired, but it feels _great_.

When Sanji cooks the biggest meal, smoking and wearing the biggest grin; when Usopp boasts about his victory and about being brave, growing louder as the night grows darker; when Chopper makes sure everyone is bandaged and taken care of, and dances and calls them all names when they thank him and tell him how awesome he is; when Zoro sleeps right in the midst of all the noise, occasionally reaching with closed eyes for his beer; when Robin is smiling and listening and pretending to read.

When Nami is handing his hat back to him, cutting off the final string and sitting back.

"I fixed it for you."

She points to the rim, where it's newly sewn, and Luffy grins, pulling it down over his face with bandaged hands.

It smells like her.

 _Those_ are the after-fights he remembers the best.

When he lays, swaying, in his hammock.

When the sounds that lull him to sleep are everyone's steady breathing and the ocean rushing against the Merry's sides.

When his hat covers his face - after Nami has held it for him, leaving the wild smell of soap and ink and tangerines and _Nami_ , and after she has sewn herself into it for him _one more time_ \- and he breathes in slow and deep, as content as he's ever been in his life because he has everything he loves and needs.

 


	7. colorful, boisterous sound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: PAINT

To keep Luffy off of his actual work, Usopp sets up a wide canvas sheet, nailing it to the forecastle wall by its four corners and blocking the door.  He sets the heavy paint buckets out on the deck, one by one - every color under the sun - along with a large box of brushes in varying shapes and sizes.  He gives Luffy, who is stomping his feet in anticipation, a plastic tray the size of one of Sanji's serving platters to mix his paint in, and then he cuts him loose.  Luffy attacks the sheet with abandon, with Chopper beside him wielding a paintbrush of his own and an equal amount of enthusiasm - Usopp sits back against the gunwale with a boarded canvas propped against his knees, and a smaller set of brushes and containers of paint.

Luffy, naturally, delivers the first offensive stroke.

He dunks his brush and his fist into the bucket of yellow paint and when he raises it to the sheet, he swings his arm, slopping the bright color over Chopper, the deck, _and_ the sheet.  The tiny reindeer, with his nervous temper, cries in alarm and hits Luffy with his paint brush, right between the eyes.  The purple streaks across Luffy's face, blinding him - and Luffy, laughing and shouting, punches Chopper in the face with a yellow fist.

Amidst furious shouts, the scramble for ammunition begins, and somehow Zoro is caught in the crossfire.  He gets paint sloshed across his front and a mouthful of orange for his trouble, and he sits up from his badly-timed nap, gagging and swearing.  When he spits out a glob of paint and snarls, _what the hell_ , Luffy, grinning to egg him on, tells him that it's his own fault for sleeping with his mouth hanging open like that.  Of course, when the swordsman grabs the nearest bucket to sling in retaliation, he hits the chef, who isn't standing anywhere near Luffy or the canvas sheet.  He paints Sanji's back a bright, vivid blue from the backs of his knees to the top of his head - and then he laughs about it, smug.

Usopp runs to save his own painting when Sanji kicks a bucket of red across the deck, the color splattering in a wide arc as the thin metal bursts against the gunwale.

It all goes to the dogs from there.

When Usopp rejoins the fray, his canvas safely stored away in the galley, Luffy grabs him by the overalls and holds him down, and rolls them both through a puddle of apple-green.  The paint is wasted.  The five of them start throwing the brushes, the trays, the empty buckets, tearing down the canvas sheet and getting tangled in it, laughing and swearing, banging elbows and knees and sliding on the slick deck, punching and kicking and mixing the paint.

Nami misses out on all of this violent, manly fun because she's taking a bath.

When she finally pushes open the door from the storage room, feeling refreshed and clean, her skin still warm, a dented paint can hits the wall right beside her head.  Nami shrieks and ducks, looking at the large purple stain with increasing alarm once she notices that the rest of the deck is no better off.  The others haven't seen her yet - they're all busy fighting and shouting, making an even bigger mess, scooping paint up in their hands and smashing it into each other's faces when there's nothing else within reach.

Nami clutches the door handle, counting her blessings.

Just when she starts to pull the door closed, Luffy rounds the mast, a paint bucket in his arms, every color dripping from his dark hair and smeared across him from his face to his toes.  He's lost his sandals, and his straw-hat, and he's slipped out of his vest - and he notices Nami right away.

Nami doesn't move, thinking maybe if she's still enough he won't see her, but of course she can't be that lucky - it doesn't work.

Luffy grins the moment he realizes she's clean.

He drops the bucket.

_"Hey, Nami~"_

_"Luffy, don't you dare!"_

He dares - and Nami yelps, yanking the door closed with all her might.

She's one second too late, because Luffy gets his fingers around the edge of the door and holds it open, a bare inch from the threshold.  She can't hope to hold it against him, but she does her damnedest, shouting, "Luffy, _no,_ I just finished _bathing!"_

"I know, I can tell!" he laughs, and slowly pries the door open, one-handed, the other reaching around it for her, paint globbing from his arm.

Jerking back, Nami lets the door go.

Luffy falls, sprawling and sliding back toward the mast, and Nami runs for her cabin and the door that locks.  She's halfway back across the storage room when Luffy gets his feet under him again, and she doesn't make it any further than that.  Luffy throws himself at her, a full tackle - never mind that she's a girl and he's so insanely strong - and he bears her to the floor, laughing in contrast to her angry swearing.  Nami elbows him in the face, twisting and struggling to get free, and Luffy wraps his arms around her, as unflappable as ever.

He squeezes the two of them together so tightly that his thick coat of paints start seeping into her clothes.

 _"I can't believe you,"_ Nami hisses, glaring, her arms pinned to her sides.

Luffy grins - the widest yet - and rubs his face against hers, smearing hues of yellow and purple and green across her cheeks and her forehead, his hair dipping into hers.

Their noses bump.

Their lips brush.

And Luffy starts laughing all of a sudden, so loud and hard that he almost lets go of her.  The moment she moves her arms, slick under his paint-splattered hands, he grips her tighter than ever, pressing his face into her shoulder.  He laughs, and laughs, and laughs - until his sides ache and he's nearly crying - and it doesn't take long for Nami to crack.  Her lips twitch at first, fighting it off (because she's still angry, damnit!  She was _clean!_ ), and then she laughs, even if she doesn't know what he thinks is so damn funny.

That colorful, boisterous sound is contagious and she can always take another bath.

 


	8. and eat it too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: INNOCENCE

Nami's fork slides through the soft cake and the rich cream filling without any resistance, _chinking_ lightly against the plate.

She smiles and leans forward, resting her weight on her elbows as she holds the bite of cake aloft.  She turns the fork, admiring the dessert's carefully-crafted color and texture - two thick layers of light, grainy brown, with white-orange wedged in between, embellishing the top in long, elegant swirls.   Nami inhales the sweet, fruity smell of the sugar, raising her burgundy eyes to glance across the table.  Good; he's watching.  Slowly, Nami parts her lips, looking directly at him - and then it happens.  His bright, brown eyes dart up to meet hers, for one second, and she knows she has him exactly where she wants him.

Perfect.

Nami takes the bite when he's looking at her, not at the cake, and hums with exaggerated delight.  Well, not _so_ exaggerated; the cake practically melts in her mouth.  The cake itself is sweet and smooth, with a hint of maple, and the cream has just enough tang to remind her of her tangerines.  She pulls the fork out of her mouth, one quick motion, and her tongue darts across her lips.  Nami watches his eyes the entire time and when he moves, a slight shift of his weight, she looks abruptly away.

She rests her chin in the palm of her hand and addresses the chef, instead, "Sanji, this cake is _amazing!_  You're so thoughtful!"

Sanji twists around from washing the dishes, beaming.

 _"You're SO WELCOME, Nami!_ Is there anything else I can get you?  You know I serve at your pleasure~"

"Actually," she says, slicing off another bite, "I _would_ like some tea, if you don't mind."

This time she doesn't linger and pops the cake into her mouth, smiling at Sanji.  He drops everything he's doing immediately at her request, _"I'll have it for you in just a moment, my dear, beautiful Nami!  Consider it done!"_  The dishes clatter and slosh in the sink, forgotten, and Sanji bolts from the galley to the store room below, in search of the tea bags that have been conveniently moved from their usual crate.

Nami isn't really interested in the tea.

He's left them alone, just like she wanted.

She waggles the fork between two of her fingers, absently examining her plate - the delicate pattern of blue flowers and green ivy twisting around the white rim - and hums lightly as she lowers her free hand.  Pressing her fingers against the cool porcelain, she nudges the plate, just enough so that the rougher bottom scrapes noisily against the wood.  As expected, Luffy's eyes follow the short, darting movement, so she slides the plate again, toward her, before dipping her fork back into the single piece of cake adorning it.

Finally, she looks at him, lifting the sliver of cake to her mouth, still smiling that wide, beguiling smile.

"Problem, Captain?" she asks, knowing exactly what his answer will be.

Luffy watches the cake disappear before he even says anything, his eyes darting from her mouth to her eyes.  He frowns, his eyebrows knotted.

"This isn't fair!"

"You _said_ you didn't want it."

Maybe she takes too much delight in saying that.

"I changed my mind..." he says slowly, almost as if he's being tricked.

"Well, it's a bit too late for that, isn't it?" she chuckles, pausing with the fork halfway to her mouth again.

She watches him closely, over the bite of cake, and Luffy looks back at her - _at her_ .  He's looking _at her eyes_ and not at the cake; he's staring straight past it, like if he stares hard enough she'll just hand it over.  Her smile widening, she points at him with her fork (holding it close, of course, because he's likely to bite it, metal and all, straight up to her fingers, should it stray too far) and waves it gently, up and down.  That's the look she's been waiting for.

"So what'll you give me for it?"

"What?" he asks, frowning in confusion, his eyes once again on the cake because it's moved.

 _"What will you give me for it?"_ Nami repeats, and presses the cake against her tongue.

She can taste the maple, the tangerine, and she slowly closes her lips around it, sliding the fork out of her mouth.

Luffy stares, intent as ever.

"I don't have any money!"

"Too bad~" she says, dropping her eyes again and taking another deliberate bite.

The piece of cake is nearly gone (it's the last one, which is precisely why he's so desperate and why she's enjoying this so much).  Luffy groans, his fists clenched against the tabletop, and he's thinking so hard, now, it's almost painful to watch, but he needs the mental exercise.  Nami smiles, taking her time, humming softly under her breath, and cuts the remaining cake into four even, delectable squares: a visual aid, so he can see just how little time he has left to persuade her.

She stabs one with her fork and lifts it to her lips, waiting.

"Hey," Luffy says, suddenly inspired, "I can do your laundry for you!"

"Don't be ridiculous!  I _like_ my clothes or I wouldn't have bought them."

She has to give him credit - that would be very tempting if he could be trusted to do it.  Alas, one down, three to go.

"You're lookin' a lot less sunburned today," he offers.

That's supposed to be flattery, she assumes, eyes narrowing slightly.  Too bad he's terrible at it.

Two down.

"You should share _with your captain, Nami!"_

Oh, the Captain Card.  That even sounded forceful.

He _is_ desperate.

But with that, there is one bite of cake left.

Nami sets her fork aside, letting out a long sigh as she plucks the cake up off her plate, holding it between her fingers in both of her hands.  She twists the layers apart so she has two smaller pieces, the white-orange cream in the middle topping the bottom part of the cake and the swirling icing topping the other.  She looks straight at Luffy, then, and licks half of the icing off the top, relishing in the light flavor that coats her tongue, before she puts the square in her mouth.

Luffy is entirely focused on the cake, and Nami sees his shoulders rise and his chest expand as he takes a slow, deep breath through his nose.

She turns the remaining square between her fingers, looking it over, and runs her finger through the thick cream filling.  Saving that small dollop for last, she finishes the final bite of cake, with Luffy still staring single-mindedly at her mouth - and that's the end of the game.

Nami beams at him.

"Sorry, Luffy~" she says, laughing, and starts to lick the icing off her finger.

Luffy grabs her wrist before she gets the chance.

He leans up, across the table, until there is barely any space between them - only their breath, and their hands, and that icing - and Luffy looks right at her, his brown eyes catching and holding hers, when he puts her finger in his mouth.  She feels his tongue, warm and wet, dragging against the sensitive pads of her finger, in stark contrast to the cool cream, and the feeling sends an unexpected jolt to the pit of her stomach.

Her skin tingles, from her scalp all the way to the soles of her feet, and Nami gasps, jerking her hand back, her finger scraping between his teeth.

Luffy doesn't let her go; his hand dives into her hair, to the back of her head, and he pulls her firmly forward.  His open mouth covers hers, his tongue pressing between her lips as they part in surprise and muffling the small noise that escapes - and Nami can't remember if she's trying to protest or not because the noise, whatever it is, turns long and low in the back of her throat.  She pushes back against his tongue with hers, and Luffy grins, his teeth rough against her lips.

And just like that, he's gone.

He pulls back, his hand fisted in her hair, and Nami is flushed and breathless.

Her heart hammers in her chest and her throat and she pants slightly, watching as Luffy drags his tongue back across his lips.

"Get off the table, Luffy," Sanji says, exasperated, as he comes back into the galley, examining the box of tea bags in his hand.  He sees nothing wrong with the scene before him because he doesn't really look, and because Luffy has dropped his hand and leaned away by the time he does.  Still, he frowns.  "That's not for climbing on, you eat there."

Luffy flashes a broad grin at the chef, and backs off the table, "Fine.  When's dinner?  I'm _starving."_

"You just had _lunch,_ you bottomless pit!"

And from there, the moment is broken.  Luffy weasels another meal out of Sanji, who complains and protests, but agrees to make it, anyway - and Nami sits there, dumbfounded, drinking her tea, and she can't say for certain whether or not she won this one.

 


	9. nothing funny going on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: NOISE

Zoro notices the empty hammock before anyone else does.

He doesn't wake up earliest, but (contrary to popular accusations) he's a pretty light sleeper and he notices when Luffy leaves in the middle of the night.  He isn't subtle; he drops out of his hammock and hits the floor with both feet, and he is just as noisy about climbing the mast, moving the door, and crossing the deck.  Likely, he's gone to raid the fridge, lock or no lock, so Zoro lets him go - a man's gotta eat.  And it will royally piss off the cook.

Smirking at this, Zoro settles his shoulders against the sturdy ropes and continues to snore.

The next morning the hammock above his is still empty; it means Luffy's slept all night in the galley, which means when he finds him the cook is going to bitch before he finally makes breakfast.  Zoro delights in this aspect almost as much as he dreads having to listen to it.  The cook, however, doesn't notice or comment on the missing food.  He's in the middle of preparing breakfast when Zoro leans his shoulder against the doorframe and crosses his arms, surveying the otherwise empty galley.

Luffy wasn't in his hammock, and he isn't in his special seat, either.

"Seen him?" Zoro asks, looking at the cook.

"Nope."

Strange.

Because normally the captain is chewing on the cook's ankles while he waits for his first meal, or else burning his fingers trying to sneak around the hot pan.

The galley is empty, the cabin is empty (except for Usopp and Chopper, who are too energetic this early in the morning), and both store rooms are empty.  The bathroom door is ajar.  There's only one room after that, then, and it puts a frown on Zoro's face.  He stands there looking down at the decorated white hatch for all of three minutes before he finally moves to test it.  He presses the sole of his boot against the side of the hatch and tries to push it up - the door gives, so it isn't locked.

This door is always locked.

This he has to see.

Zoro pulls open the hatch and descends the stairs, hitting his boots extremely hard against each step as he goes down and looking across the room.  He expects the uncharacteristic noise to announce his presence, but, to his surprise, it doesn't.

In Nami's defense, she probably can't hear him.

Luffy is laying completely on top of her back, his face buried in her neck, and he's breathing loudly, sound asleep.  Her head is pinned between his and the mattress... So, no.  She probably can't hear much of anything.  Zoro figures this, at least, is why she isn't awake yet - she's usually one of the first to rise, but the only noise she _can_ hear has likely lulled her into a comma.  He can't decide whether it would be kinder to leave her alone, or wake her up, and he takes a moment to consider the danger to himself and how this is going to interfere with his morning.

He should probably pretend he hasn't seen anything; this one is worse than the cook with her bitching.

The cook should _definitely_ see this.

But both of their clothes are on, so there's nothing funny going on here.

Luffy's brain was probably addled with food and he got lost on his way back from the galley.  (His sense of direction is terrible, after all.)

Zoro contemplates this a while, and then he turns and leaves, beating his feet against the stairs all the way up and then _slamming_ the hatch shut.   _The things I do for my captain,_ he thinks, and pauses in the storage room to see if this was effective enough.  He hears the muffled, tell-tale shriek a moment later.

"LUFFY!  When did you get in here, _get off me!"_

And then the captain's groggy laughter,

"Oh, sorry, I was so full from my snack!  You're bed's really big, I just wanted to stretch out."

"If you wanted more room then _why were you lying on top of me, idiot!"_

Convinced his morning will proceed normally from here, Zoro goes out onto the deck for his before-breakfast work-out.

Six thousand two ton presses.  Then breakfast.

 


	10. like a sinking ship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: READING

If this is what being a single mother feels like, Nami doesn't want children.

Ever.

Especially not boys.

They're rude, and stubborn, and inconsiderate.  They _sweat._  She can't even read the morning paper in peace.  Of course, it's four in the afternoon, so it isn't really the _morning paper_ and that's enough of a nuisance on it's own without having to read said paper over the top of Luffy's head and trying to concentrate around the sound of his heavy breathing.  He's practically _panting._  It's hot today - unbearably hot - and he wants to take a nap in the shade, under the tangerine trees.  That's fine.  But _why_ he decides to lay right against someone in this weather and _why she lets him_ is utterly beyond her.

His arms are damp and they're stuck to her bare legs.

Part of her is glad she decided to wear shorts today, and part of her isn't.  Upside, it's hot and these are cute shorts; downside, she couldn't protest the slight to her dignity too much when the captain decided that her lap and her shade and her lawn-chair were the ideal napping place.  He crawled up underneath her newspaper while she was glancing through the business section, laid down between her legs with the back of his shoulders against her hips and his head against her stomach, wrapped his arms around her legs, and was there to stay.

Naturally, she told him to _get up!_  She even tried to close her knees, digging them mercilessly into his ribs, but he only made a face, his eyes still closed, and lightly swatted her leg with his hand.

"Stop that, would ya," he said, "I'm already comfortable."

_Well that makes ONE OF US._

And yet here she is, almost a half-hour later, literally _stuck_ to the chair, and the captain, and still trying to read the paper.

Grimacing slightly, Nami moves her leg, raising her knee in an attempt to unstick Luffy's sweaty arm, or at least her leg from the lawn-chair.  It doesn't work.  She should have guessed it wouldn't work.  Luffy shifts his shoulders when she shifts her leg, sliding his forearm under her thigh and turning his palm up, so he's holding the back of her knee - and Nami is no better off than before because his breathing is just as steady and loud as ever.

It doesn't pause or hitch when he moves, so he's dead asleep and still _so intent_ on not moving it nearly infuriates her all over again.

Nami takes a deep, slow breath and sighs out through her nose, and turns a page in the newspaper.  She ignores him when he does move, though it's only his thumb, brushing against the outside curve of her knee, or his own feet, rocking from side-to-side on his heels; he can't be _still_ even while he's sleeping, deeply or otherwise, and Nami would be worried if he was.  Her eyes scan the columns of text and the occasional picture, faces she doesn't know and doesn't care to know.  The first newspaper she ever read aboard the Merry had his picture in it, she remembers suddenly.  His wanted poster slipped out of the loose pages and onto the deck, for all the world to see.

And with that, like a sinking ship, her irritation reluctantly slips away.

He deserves all the rest he can get, wherever he can get it.

 


	11. shearing off another inch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: HAIR

_ "Keep still,"  _ Nami commands, not for the first time.  She apparently changes her mind as soon as the words leave her mouth, and gestures downward with the scissors - staring out of the corner of his eye, Luffy sees them dart past his bare shoulder for an instant before they disappear again, and he quickly looks back out at the ocean.  "Y'know what, sit on your hands!  And if you move them up here again, I'm keeping them as payment."

Luffy grimaces and tucks his hands under his legs, his palms against the stool.  He hates the sitting-still part, but he doesn't dare complain.  Nami keeps her hands on his shoulders until he stops shifting restlessly, and then she raises the scissors again.  It's been almost a month since she cut his hair last and she doesn't ask him how short he wants it - she hacks it down to its usual length, the same without fail every time.

Her fingers are cool against his neck as she slides her hand up into his hair, using her fingers to measure how much she's cutting off.  The scissors  _ snick _ loudly each time they close, shearing off another inch of dark black hair.  Nami combs her fingers lightly against his scalp, tugging on his hair, and she works in a quick, steady rhythm, tugging and snipping, tugging and snipping.  Luffy closes his eyes, slowly breathing in the ocean air.  He swings his legs forward, then back, scuffing the pads of his bare feet against the deck.

After about half a minute of this, Nami's hand fists into his hair, a lot tighter than usual.  There is one final, impatient  _ snick _ near his left ear before she yanks him by the hair, tilting his head back and nearly pulling him from the stool.  Luffy shouts in surprise, and Nami leans forward, over him, so that he can see her bright burgundy eyes - and the scowl on her face.

"What did I say about fidgeting?"

Luffy frowns up at her, "I'm not fidgeting!"

"You're rocking forward when you move your legs,  _ that's fidgeting! _  Do you want me to slip and cut your ear off?"

So Luffy swings his feet backwards, once more, and hooks them around the legs of the stool.  Satisfied, Nami releases her grip and says, smiling, "Thank you."  She lets him straighten up, and drags her hand back through his hair again, from his forehead across the top of his head.  She does this several times before she actually starts cutting again, and with the first new snip, Luffy watches as a lock of hair flutters onto his arm.

All of a sudden, probably because he  _ sees  _ it - it itches.

_ Damnit. _ ...

"Nami..."

"Hold on," she says - another  _ snick _ , and another tuft of hair drifting down to his shoulder, "I'm almost through."

Luffy's fingers curls into fists under his thighs and he stares straight ahead, doing his best to ignore the hair as it falls and settles on his skin.

_ It itches. _

"Nami - "

"No," she says, without even knowing what he wants to say.

He starts beating the side of his foot against the leg of the stool, his shoulders tensing and relaxing as he tries not to shift and fidget and move his hands to scratch.  He takes a deep breath through his nose, determined to resist the urge.  Finally, Nami sets the scissors down and Luffy stops moving.  He realizes he's been fidgeting again and inwardly cringes.  But Nami runs her fingers back through his hair one more time, then furiously scrubs his scalp to shake out any loose hair that hasn't already fallen; Luffy's face wrinkles, his eyes squeezing shut, and he grins, even though his hair is stinging his face.

Nami holds onto him, then, her fingers laced across his forehead, and she tilts his head back - gently this time - so the top of his head is resting against her chest.

She beams down at him.

"You're free to go, now, Captain~  See, that would have gone a lot faster if you'd kept still the first time I asked you to."

Luffy grins, but he still itches.

"Wanna take a shower?"

"I was going to, I've got your hair all over me."

"Take one with me."

"Why would I want to take one with you?"

"Because we're both itchy?"

He hopes this is logic that she can't argue with - it's true, for one.  And he's not allowed to draw up water for a shower, but Sanji will do it if Nami asks him so he won't have to ask Zoro or Usopp to do it.  And he hates washing his own hair, so maybe if he offers to scrub her back and her feet, Nami will wash it for him.

Nami thinks about if for a moment, then she smiles, her shoulders popping up in a shrug.

"What the heck," she says, "You already owe me money for the haircut, anyway."

 


	12. dark waves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: WEAKNESS

Nami thinks, an instant before she hits the water, that this is just her luck.

Though she's had plenty of time during the fall to draw in her breath, she's been too busy screaming and swearing.  She manages to at the last second, and the inky-black ocean meets her with such force that it knocks the air right back out of her lungs.  There's the sound of roaring water, crashing against the rocks, a painful burst of numbing cold - and then there's the muffled silence of the sea.  Nami gasps, sucking in a mouthful of salt water; she clamps her mouth shut, her face screwed up, and makes herself swallow it.  She kicks her legs, striking something thick and heavy with her left foot.

The unexpected contact surprises her, and Nami lurches away from it, kicking harder, reaching up.  Her head breaks the surface of the water, the current jerking her one way and then another as she gasps and sputters.  The temperature has her shaking uncontrollably; Nami looks around to get her bearings, twisting to the left, and then the right, panic welling in her chest.  It's the middle of the night, and the ocean is darker than the sky - that makes it even easier to see the lightly colored straw-hat, drifting aimlessly nearby.

She lunges forward, grabbing it by the rim, and twists around again.

_ "Luffy!" _

He's already sunk.

Nami swears, looking at his hat - he'll hate her for losing it.

She takes a deep breath and lets it go, diving under and to her left, where the undercurrent is the strongest.  She can feel it tugging at her feet and she knows if she's going to find Luffy, it will be in that direction.  It isn't going to do her any good, but she opens her eyes - the salt stings, and it's too dark to see anything in the murky water.  She feels the pressure building in her ears as she swims deeper and ignores it, but it is impossible to ignore the growing ache in her lungs.

Nami's jaw quivers, her lips pressed together to keep the air in.

She can't go up without him!

And then she sees a white blur floating in the darkness.  She grabs Luffy's wrist with both hands, jerking him upwards until she can grab the collar of his vest - bubbles burst out of his open mouth, across her face, and she hears a strangled gurgle.  Nami very nearly loses her own breath, as well - that's the last of his air, and she drags him to the surface.  He's a lot heavier than she expects - the others make it look easy, but it's literally like trying to drag up an anchor - her limbs and lungs are burning, she isn't sure she's going to make it, and then there is suddenly, blissfully, air.  Nami gasps as she comes up, the cold filling her lungs, and she heaves Luffy out of the water, up to his shoulders.

He isn't breathing.

"Luffy..." she says, breathless, and shoves him roughly away, against the water, jerking him back.  Luffy's head snaps forward, then backwards, and he doesn't make a sound.  "Luffy!   _ Luffy, breathe, damnit!  Luffy!  ...Luffy!" _

She shakes him, again and again, struggling to keep them both afloat - and finally he breathes.  He coughs up water, gagging and wheezing; his fingers dig into her arms, making her wince, and he tries to struggle away from her, his legs tangling with hers.  He sinks, an arm splashing blindly at the surface, and Nami pulls him back up.  His eyes are still closed and there's blood running down his face, from a cut on his forehead, and his nose and his mouth.  The sight sends a jolt of alarm through her and Nami grabs his face, pulling him closer.

"Luffy, look at me!" Nami says, wiping the blood and water out of his eyes with one hand, "I must've kicked you, I'm so sorry."

He says her name around a mouthful of water as a wave breaks over the top of them and he goes under again, for half a second.  Nami's arms shake with the effort of holding him up, and she hears him choke, gulping down more water, "Nami..."

"Idiot!  Kick your feet!"

"Wha-at?"

_ "Kick your feet," _ she snaps, "I can't keep us both up,  _ your heavy." _

"I can't..."

"You can!  Kick your feet, damnit!"

She looks around, now, for the shore.  The cliff is behind them, a dark silhouette against the night sky - it looks a lot higher from way down here and Nami suppresses a scream of frustration.  There's a beach on level ground, below and to the east of the cliffs, but the tide has pulled them so far out it's going to take forever to swim there and she's  _ so tempted _ to hold Luffy under until he stops struggling because _ this is all his fault! _

"I'm gonna kill you," she says angrily, under her breath.  She slowly starts making her way toward the shore, against the tug of the ocean, pulling Luffy with her.  "I swear - as soon as we get... to land - I'm killing you!  What the  _ hell...  _ were you  _ thinking?" _

"The-there was nowhere else... to guh-go..." Luffy mumbles, sloshing the water uselessly.

"At least warn someone... when you're going to do something so  _ stupid!" _

"Nami... my hat - "

"Oh, to hell with your hat, Luffy!" she gasps, but casts around to see if she can spot it, anyway.

There's nothing but dark waves as far as she can see in one direction, and miles of white beach in the other - his hat is long gone, and Nami doesn't have the heart to tell him.  It's the biggest relief imaginable when she finally feels sand give way under her feet and Nami breathes out a sigh, standing up in the water.  She feels heavy, and Luffy is nothing more than dead weight, though one of his hands is still clinging furiously to her arm.   The ocean beats against the back of her legs, making her stumble as she drags Luffy by the front of his vest, through the shallow water, then up the beach, and dumps him in the damp sand, sinking to her knees.

She's panting and shivering, her heart pounding in her chest, and Nami leans forward, laying down beside him.  After a few minutes of silence - their heavy breathing and the occasional, watery cough aside - she feels the back of Luffy's hand lightly hit her in the ribs.

He groans, and she feels him shifting in the sand as he rolls over, "I don't feel too great...  I... my stomach feels awful..."

"All that ocean water," Nami says, her voice muffled by the sand, "It probably didn't agree with you..."

She sits up just in time to watch as Luffy struggles to his feet, his arms and legs shaking, and runs off into the darkness.  She's shocked he can move so quickly, but he doesn't get very far before he drops to his knees; she's light-headed, and exhausted, so she doesn't fully understand why he's gotten up in the first place until she hears him retching.  Nami sighs, hanging her head, and reaches up, pushing her dripping hair out of her face.

She sits back, her hand falling down to her shoulder, and glances around toward the ocean.  Of course.  Slowly, she gets to her feet; she wades back out, snatching Luffy's straw-hat out of the waves as they come in, and she goes to check on him.  It isn't funny, but she almost wants to laugh - this is probably the only thing his stomach has ever rejected.  Nami sits down behind him, sliding her hand under his vest to rub his back, pressing her palm against his spine.  Luffy moans and shudders; she feels the muscles in his back bunch and spasm, but he manages to keep whatever's left in his stomach down.

"Feel better?"

"No," Luffy moans, and Nami fans him lightly with his straw-hat as he takes a few deep breaths, "Kinda..."

She rubs his back for a while longer, surveying their surroundings, until he relaxes and his breathing comes easier.  She looks back at him, watching as he raises a shaking hand to wipe his mouth, and says, "We should get back."

"Yeah..." he murmurs, "Nami?"

"What?"

"You're awesome..."

"I know," she says, smiling, and pats his back affectionately, "You're stupid... and if I had the strength to smother you, I would."

He chuckles weakly, grinning at her over his shoulder.

"I know."

 


	13. the top three buttons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: TIE

"Nami, this is stupid."

"Shut up, you wanted to come with me, so whose fault is it that you're bored?"

Nami lays her hands on her hips, the thin fabric bunching under her palms, and she frowns into the bottom corner of the mirror.  Luffy has his arms slung over the backs of the chairs on either side of him, his ankle propped up on his knee as he slouches back in his seat.  He looks like a vagabond in his dirty jeans and sandals, sitting among all the expensive attire, and he matches her frown line for line, his airborne knee bouncing impatiently.  When he doesn't answer the inquiry, Nami beams at him and shifts her hips, straightening her shoulders and arching her back so she's leaning more toward the mirror, her hands still at her waist.

The posture and the way it accentuates her breasts (especially in this strapless dress) would melt Sanji to the floor, but Luffy's expression doesn't shift in the slightest.

"If you're  _ that _ bored," Nami says, undaunted, "Then go find Usopp."

"I tried to find him earlier and wound up back at that stupid store with all the shoes!"

"Well, this time try looking for the shoe store, instead," she suggests and straightens up, turning experimentally to one side and then the other, watching the dress as it hugs and wrinkles exactly where a good dress is supposed to.  She hums, undecided; it's right within her price range, but she already has a black dress.  "What do you think?"

Luffy isn't even looking.

He's laid his head back against the top of the chair, as if the effort to hold it up is too much for him, and his straw-hat is covering his face.

"You look ravenous, can we  _ go  _ now?"

"You mean  _ ravishing _ ," Nami snaps, twisting around at the waist to glare at him, "You could at least  _ pretend _ to be enthusiastic, you did this to yourself."

"I'll be enthusiastic when we get dinner," he says with a groan, "I'm starving..."

_ Of course, _ she thinks, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead.  Like a broken, petulant record-player.  Nami sighs, glancing away from the mirror and out of the changing area, across the large shop full of clothes and accessories.  A solution presents itself almost immediately; she grins back at Luffy and offers, "I'll tell you what, Captain."  He drops a hand down onto the crown of his hat and raises his head slightly, pushing it back so he can look at her.  "I'll buy you dinner if you do something for me~"

Luffy frowns at her, interested, but wary, and he asks, "You weren't going to anyway?"

"You just  _ assumed  _ I was going to feed you," Nami says, somewhat indignant.

"Well, yeah, I don't have any money."

"You're unbelievable, get over here!"

Nami snaps her fingers once, pointing to where she's standing, and steps off the short platform and around the curtain; she's still wearing the dress and heels she hasn't paid for, but she doesn't really care.  Luffy grudgingly goes to stand at the indicated spot, staring apprehensively at the mirror, and Nami disappears among the racks and shelves to rummage around in the men's section.  She returns just when he's getting antsy, toting a large pile of black and red.

"What's that for?" Luffy asks, frowning.

"What's it look like they're for?"  She drops the clothes onto the short table in the changing room and raises an eyebrow.  "I want you to try these on."

"Why?" he asks, but pulls his vest off over his head, anyway, without bothering to unbutton it.  His hat drops to the floor and he nudges it aside with his foot as Nami bends over to pull a pair of black slacks out of the pile.  "There's nothin' wrong with my clothes."

"You  _ said  _ you were bored, so you can participate."  Nami holds the slacks out for Luffy to take with one hand, the other dragging free a red collared shirt, and says, "Here, both of these."  She turns to look at him, coloring rising to her face when he kicks off his jeans.  "LUFFY!"

"What?"

Nami slings the clothes at him, hitting him in the face, and Luffy shouts, blindly grabbing at them.

"Idiot," she says, jerking the curtain closed on him as she steps out of the changing area, "You can leave your underwear on!"

"I don't  _ wear  _ any," Luffy says grumpily from behind the curtain.

She hears the clothes rustling as he pulls them on and sighs, laying her face in the palm of her hand and wondering if this was worth it.  Luffy pulls the curtain back once he's dressed, sliding his feet back into his sandals; the top three buttons of his shirt are undone, and Nami is surprised to see he found the black tie, though it's only hanging around his neck.

Yes, definitely worth it.

"You look nice," she says, and grabs the tie with both hands.

"I guess," he says, watching her twist the thick end around the smaller one before she pulls it through.  He grins.  "I participated.  So can we go eat, now?"

Nami shimmies the knot up toward his neck, then gives it a forceful tug, grinning, as well.

"Fine.  But I'm picking the restaurant."

 


	14. another indulgent bite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: WATERMELON

Well, they're called  _ water _ melon for a reason.

The juice fills her mouth as she bites into it, dripping down her chin and leaving a sweet, sticky trail down her neck.  She's ruined plenty of clothes trying to eat this fruit in the past and has learned that just wearing a bikini spares her having to fuss over all the wide, pink stains on lightly-colored shirts.  It's hot and humid today, anyway, so it isn't only a delicious snack, it's a refreshing burst of cold that is more than welcome - even if it is unbelievably messy.

Nami is at least grateful that Sanji isn't out on the deck to make a spectacle of it, and takes another indulgent bite of watermelon.  An extra chunk comes off, slipping from between her lips, and it falls.  Of course, her breasts catch it; that's about the only thing they're good for sometimes.

Nami glances down, muttering, "Damnit," and raises her hand to pluck the wayward fruit out of her cleavage.

Another set of fingers beat her to it.

Luffy snatches the watermelon out from between her breasts, as if he's snatching food off the table, and Nami's mouth drops open in surprise.  She sucks in a breath to reprimand him - something like,  _ keep your fingers to yourself, you idiot, _ or just a general,  _ excuse you _ \- but the words never leave her lips.  Luffy leans down, in the same instant, the same heartbeat, and presses his tongue against the place where the watermelon previously was.  It's alarmingly warm against her chilled skin, and Nami shudders as he drags his tongue up the swell of her breast, pressing deep into the soft flesh.

She gasps, the sound short and jerky as it hitches in her throat, and heat coils in the pit of her stomach; she arches her back, raising her chest, and Luffy's teeth graze the skin below her collarbone for a brief second as he grins.  He licks the side of her neck, following the light trail of watermelon and catching the juice with his tongue, pausing at the hollow under her jaw.  Her pulse beats against his tongue, and his lips, and Nami turns her head to the side, to catch his mouth with hers.

His parted lips brush hers and she tastes the sweet tang of watermelon on his breath before he leans back, into his own seat.

Luffy grins at her, and eats the chunk of watermelon he took - Nami had nearly forgotten about it.  Her head is spinning and she reaches, with numb fingers, for the other un-carved half of the watermelon sitting in front of her on the table.  Luffy's eyes follow the movement as he chews, but he clearly isn't expecting it when she hefts the large fruit because he doesn't dodge it.  Nami shoves the watermelon into his face, pushing him backwards with all her strength so the chair tips and he falls back onto the deck, windmilling his arms and kicking his legs.

Her face red, Nami storms away as the others turn to look in surprise.

Zoro's loud laughter booms across the deck after her, and Nami really  _ doesn't care _ if he saw it or if he's just laughing because  _ everything  _ is funny after you've eaten a twenty-pound, beer-infused watermelon that's been fermenting in the freezer for more than a week.

 


	15. every other step is a smudge of red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: BLOOD

The first thing Nami registers when she regains consciousness is the heavy, throbbing pain in her right knee.  She shifts, just slightly, and stinging heat shoots up her leg, coiling from the joint like a tightly wound spring.  A sharp cry escapes her lips, her body going rigid to stave off the pain as she presses her face into the back of Luffy's shoulder, tightening her arms around his neck and hugging his back - she knows it's him because he smells like damp straw on a warm day, and faintly of sweat and copper.

He stops walking when her legs squeeze his hips and Nami suddenly misses the steady movement, though she hadn't really noticed it before.  Luffy shifts his weight, from one foot to the other.  His hands are warm against her thighs, holding onto her tightly with his left hand and loosely with his right, so he doesn't hurt her on accident.

He probably thinks he already has.

"Nami, you okay?" he asks in a hushed tone.

"Y...yeah," she says, her voice strained and muffled by his shirt, "I just... my leg."

"Yeah, it looks pretty bad."  That isn't exactly what she wants to hear, especially around a small laugh; Nami groans, and Luffy quickly amends his statement, "I mean, it's all puffy and bruised, but it's probably just twisted or somethin'.  Chopper'll fix it when we get back to the ship, so you just hang tight for a while."

He starts walking again, at the same determined pace, and Nami slowly raises her head to look around.  It's dusk and the woods are cast in a dull orange-and-green light; there's nothing to see but trees, and more trees, and this does little to ease her mind because none of it looks familiar.  Occasionally, through the dense mass of branches and lush leaves, she can see the shore in the distance, though they're still too far away for her to hear the rushing waves; she can tell they're walking alongside it - not toward it.

"Luffy... where are we going?"

"Back to the ship."

_ "What direction?" _ she asks, suspicion creeping in.

He sounds less certain when he answers, "...I dunno."

_ "You don't know?" _ she says loudly, and Luffy cringes, "How long have you been walking?!"

"A while," he admits, turning to grin at her over his shoulder, "But I thought if I walked away from that big mountain back there, I'd get to the beach, and then I was gonna follow the beach back to the ship -"

"Luffy, that could take  _ hours!" _ Nami says, looking around in earnest, now.

There are only  _ more trees _ to see, and brief glances of the darkening sky - she doesn't even know what mountain he's supposedly coordinating himself with.  Her knee throbs as she turns to look behind them, and she tenses again, her breath catching.  Her fingers dig into Luffy's shoulders, and his fingers dig into her legs.  He mutters, "Sorry," and his grip loosens, just as quickly; Nami ignores the painful spasm and points to their right, over his shoulder.

"That way," she says, "The ocean is that way.  See it?"

Luffy pauses to look, and she hears him swear under his breath before he starts walking again, deviating from his own path.  She buries her face in the collar of his vest with a heavy sigh, draping her arms over his shoulders and crossing them around his neck.  She doesn't know whether she wants to laugh or cry, but it's lucky for the both of them that her knee hurt enough to rouse her - they might have been wandering aimlessly for days under his bad logic.

"My idea would've worked," Luffy says, stubbornly.

"You'd have walked around the entire island first, you idiot.  But I agree," she says, nothing but condescending as the laughing wins out and she smiles against his neck.  He says it with such  _ conviction. _  "It would have worked.  Eventually."

Luffy lets out a loud snort through his nose, but otherwise doesn't bother to respond.

After a while, Nami leans back slightly, to get a look at her knee.  She grimaces when she does, because it looks even worse than it feels.  Her entire knee and the area surrounding it is swollen and bruised, an ugly dark purple that fades to blue around the edges - there's no way she's going to be able to stand on it, let alone walk, and Nami sighs, leaning forward and resting her chin on Luffys' shoulder.

She drops her arms, laying her hands over Luffy's; something feels wet under her left hand, though, and she frowns, tilting her head to look down at it.  Her hand comes away from the back of his dripping dark red, and Nami jerks up in alarm, sending a fresh jolt of pain through her leg.  Grimacing, she ignores it.

"Are you bleeding?" she asks, leaning as far back from him as she dares.

His left side is soaked in blood.  It's harder to see because his vest is red, but the fabric is darker right above where he's holding her leg against his side.  When she cranes to look around her leg, she can see that his jeans are stained on the outside in a wide strip, and the blood is trailing down his bare leg, filling his sandal.  Every other step is a smudge of red in the dirt, and Luffy raises his shoulders in a shrug, without pausing or looking at her.

"A little."

_ "A little! _  Luffy, you're leaving a trail!"

He does look, then, glancing down and back, as if he's surprised.

"Oh, I guess so," he says, but keeps walking, "I thought it'd stopped already."

Nami can't believe what she's hearing.

"Idiot!  Put me down."

Luffy frowns over his shoulder, "What for?  You can't walk."

"Well, you can't carry me, put me down!"

"That's stupid, I've been carryin' you this whole time," he points out, pinning her legs tight between his arms and his hips incase she tries to get down.  The added pressure hurts her knee, but he's forgotten about that and he doesn't let up, even when she winces and squirms.  "Besides, we're gonna be back soon, right?"

"There's no telling how far you've gone off in the wrong direction," she says, pointing to the ground, "At least set me down so I can look at it, you're bleeding all over me!"

Reluctantly, he does, letting her down on her left foot first, so she won't have to put her weight on her injured knee.  She holds onto his arm tightly, the toes of her right foot barely resting on the ground, and switches her grip to the front of his vest when he turns to face her, frowning as she undoes the buttons.

"What the hell did you do?" she asks, pulling open his vest.

It's plastered to his side and Nami slowly peels it away, cringing sympathetically as Luffy stares down his chest.  He holds his arm up out of her way, even though the fading light makes it almost impossible to see the real extent of the damage; there's a long gash from his back to his front, like he's grazed something sharp, and his side is slick with fresh blood.

"I dunno," Luffy says with a wide grimace.

"I guess I'm not surprised," Nami mutters under her breath, then slides his vest back off his shoulders, "Pull your arms out."

The moment he's free of his vest, Nami folds it and presses it against his side to staunch the bleeding.  Luffy's frown deepens, body tensing up, but he doesn't complain, shifting his weight to his other foot again.  Nami holds his shirt on the wound for as long as possible, dabbing at it and periodically turning his shirt so she can mop up the blood better.  Eventually, she has to relent.  The sun has set and it's difficult to tell if the bleeding has stopped in the twilight.

Nami folds his vest long-ways, then, and ties it tightly around his middle in an admittedly really poor attempt to keep pressure on the wound.

Luffy grunts quietly when she gives the knot one final tug.

"There," she says, "That'll work for now.  Jeez, you're such an idiot sometimes..."

She glances down at her knee, her brow knotted, and tentatively puts her weight on it.  A sharp pain shoots up her leg the moment her heel comes down and she nearly buckles, biting back a yelp of pain.  Luffy holds her up by her elbows, and Nami inwardly swears, wondering how they're going to pull this off.

She can't hobble back to the ship...

Luffy slides his right arm behind her back and his left arm under her legs, behind her knees, lifting her off the ground.  Surprised by the unexpected tilt, Nami tosses her arms around his neck; her injured knee throbs in protest, but Luffy shifts his grip and the ache quickly fades.

She frowns up at him, just as stubborn.

"Luffy - "

"You can't walk," he says, grinning, "It's no big deal."

 


	16. the sound of ropes twisting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: BREAK

Even Luffy has those moments where he is not the strongest one among them.

Nami is sitting up in bed, leaning against the wall with a book propped up on her knees, and she is just considering going to bed herself when she hears the small, sudden commotion from the men's cabin, behind her.  There's a muffled, strangled sound - like a shout or a cry - and the sound of ropes twisting as someone rolls and tumbles out of their hammock.  A loud grunt of surprise follows it immediately,  _ "Luffy!" _  That's Zoro, Nami thinks, and looks up from her book, her eyebrows slanting together as she listens.

The others pipe up, still half-asleep, and she hears Usopp, "Wha's goin' on?"

  
Sanji, "What're you shit-heads  _ doing?" _

And Chopper, "Is it morning already...?"

"Nuh... No," Luffy says, and Nami has trouble hearing him because he's so quiet and breathless.  It's not a tone any of them usually hear from their high-spirited captain, and Nami is certain she isn't the only one frowning when he murmurs, "Sorry..."

She hears Zoro ask, gruffly, "What's wrong?" and Luffy's feet hit the floor.

"Nothin'..."

"You want me to fix you something to eat?"

"No," Luffy says - and there is a pause, only a heartbeat long, but it's enough - "I... I gotta pee."

It's just an excuse - and a terrible one, at that.

He sprints to the mast, climbing up to the deck, and Nami claps her book shut on the frantic sound of his escape - on the sound of the others shifting in their hammocks as they start to get up, murmuring bewildered inquiries, and Zoro telling them, with his rough, unshakable indifference that doesn't fool anyone, "No.  Leave him alone."  Nami's eyes are on the ceiling as she listens to Luffy's heavy, agitated footfalls beat against the floor overhead.  He can't decide where to go; he pauses halfway across the storage room, takes a few uncertain steps around, to the door, to the bathroom, and then he goes back out onto the deck.

Nami gets to her feet, tossing the book aside, and quietly climbs the stairs.  She pushes up the hatch, feeling the cool night air that wafts in through the open door along with Robin's voice, trailing down from the galley, "Captain.  Do you need something?"

His restless pacing stops, for an instant, and he delivers the same weak excuse, "No.  Just... goin' to the bathroom."  He comes back into the storage room without waiting for a response, and Nami props her elbows against the floor, leaning up out of the trap door from the lady's cabin.

"Luffy," she says, just loud enough for him to hear.  He pauses and looks at her, where she's hidden away in the dark corner - and it isn't just a regular pause or look because he jerks to a halt, his whole body tense, and she can see his fists clench at his sides, though she can't see his face.  He's hardly more than a silhouette against the faint moonlight coming in through the door, and his shadow is long.  Nami fixes him with a look of tired exasperation.  "What're you doing?"

Luffy shifts, scraping his foot backwards against the floor, as if he's going to retreat.  As if he  _ ever _ retreats.

"Sorry," he mutters, "I woke you up, didn't I?"

"Well,  _ yeah _ ," she lies, arching an eyebrow, "You're stomping around up here like you're trying to raise the dead.   _ What are you doing?" _

"Nothin'... I - "

Nami pushes up away from the floor, sighing, "Get down here," and she disappears below, leaving the hatch open.  It's more of a command than an invitation, and Luffy hesitates, then wordlessly descends the stairs behind her.  Nami has already resettled herself in her original spot against the wall when Luffy collapses onto the bed beside her.  He lays right against her hip, with his back turned toward her and his face pressed into the mattress, and he hugs his sides, his fingers digging into his shirt.

He draws his knees up; his feet are still hanging half-off the bed and his toes are curled.  Nami retrieves her book from the tangled folds, absently tossing the blanket over him - and they have barely settled over him, and she has barely found her page again, before she hears the stifled noise.  Luffy shudders and gasps.  The mattress swallows most of the sound, and Nami glances down at him, her eyebrows knotted.  His shoulders are shaking, and after he bites back the second sad, choked sound, she slides her hand under the blanket, rubbing his side.

His fingers jerk out of her way, tightening in his shirt, and he stiffens as he holds his breath.

"Breathe, you idiot," she says softly, leaning over him, "You're fine."

Luffy turns his face further into the mattress - she hears the rush of air as it leaves his lungs and gets sucked back in, struggling around the plush comforter and hitching in his throat - and he murmurs two small, insignificant words that she can scarcely hear, but expects, regardless, because it's so very like him.

_ "Not me..." _

"... _ We're  _ fine," Nami says, smiling and leaning more heavily against his side - a familiar, steady pressure that isn't going to change or go away anytime soon.  He knows it, and it's stupid, but having to be told makes all the difference.  The tension ease out of him, slowly, and he takes a deep breath to steady his racing heart, and his stupid nerves, and he mutters wordlessly into the mattress as Nami smiles and pats him roughly.

He falls asleep, breathing heavily with his mouth open again the mattress, and Nami doesn't read another word, though she stares at the open pages for the longest time afterward.

 


	17. the water and the tiled walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: HOT WATER

Hot water sloshes out over the side of the tub as Luffy moans and rocks forward, and Nami bears down against him.

"That feels  _ great," _ he groans, the low sound bouncing off the water and the tiled walls.

"It should," Nami says, from behind him, beaming, "It's costing you 400,000฿~"

She digs the heels of her hands into his lower back again and pushes them slowly upwards.  The soap and water helps her hands slide against his bare skin, rubbing the tension out of his muscles, and she stops at his shoulders, squeezing them and rubbing in circles.  She drags her hands back down and repeats this same gesture for what must be the 100th time.  Luffy is doubled over, his dark hair dipping into the bath water, and he groans again as she pushes her hands back up, pressing between his shoulder blades.

_ He's so easy to please it's ridiculous,  _ Nami thinks delightedly, moving her hands out from his spine and dragging them down along the outside of his ribcage.

It takes him a few minutes to register what she said.

"Hey, wait a minute," he mutters, raising his head slightly.  Water drips out of his hair and off the tip of his nose, making wide rings spread out across the already-rippling surface.  "That's more than last time, isn't it?"

He raises a hand up out of the water, frowning at his fingers as if they'll calculate for him.

"Yup~  Three times as much."

"What for?"

"The bath costs extra."

"How come?"

"If you don't know why it costs extra, Luffy, I'm not telling you."

"That's stupid," Luffy says, straightening up a bit and looking at her over his shoulder, "It's way better in the bath cause it's warm and stuff."

"I thought I was being very generous when I agreed to do this for you," Nami says, smiling, and rubs her hands down the middle of his back, along his spine, where he likes it the best.  The action elicits another low moan from Luffy as he leans forward again, stretching out his back.  "You want me to stop~?"

Luffy shakes his head and takes a deep breath - Nami presses her hands flat against his sides as they expand to accommodate the air, and then he sighs, "No.  But that's a lot!"  His breath ripples the water, and Nami pushes her hands back up to his shoulders.  "...I should get a discount because I'm the only one you ever give back rubs to."

"No discounts.  Why do you think I charge you so much?"

"Because you're stingy."

Raising her hand, Nami slaps him firmly across the back.  It stings her palm and Luffy yelps, jerking and sloshing more water out of the bathtub - he's the one that will have to mop it up later, anyway, so Nami doesn't say anything about it.  She continues rubbing his back as if nothing happened, even when Luffy's hand gets in her way as he gropes around for the place where she smacked him, grumbling, "What was that for?"

"For being rude," she says, pushing his hand out of her way.  His arm drops back into the water, and Nami soothes her hands over the bright red print along the curve of his back.  "...I guess I'm willing to come down to 350,000 - just this once - if you'll rub my feet when we're done."

She feels a chuckle shake through his body, and his hand brush against her leg under the water.

"Okay, fine," Luffy says, grinning.

She can tell by his tone that he thinks he's accomplished quite a feat with this successful exchange.  The thought makes her laugh - because he's so simple and he doesn't even really care about the money - he probably has no idea how much she's even asking for and thinks he's come out ahead.  So when he says, "Rub harder in the middle, like you did a second ago," she does just that, and she hums quietly under her breath.

 


	18. this is a skirt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: CHAIR

He has the last chair.

_ She's  _ been walking  _ all day _ and  _ he _ has the last chair.

"Luffy, get up," Nami says, and gestures - a short, swiping motion with her hand that indicates he should vacate the chair  _ immediately _ , before she makes him vacate it.

Her feet are heavy and sore, and the relentless ache has spread all the way up her legs to her hips, and from her hips to her back, right up to her shoulders.   _ Everything hurts. _  The noise from the over-crowded cafe is making her irritable.  And Luffy only lifts his head, his eyebrows knotted as he looks at her.  He looks comfortable -  _ too comfortable _ , Nami thinks, her eyes narrowed - slumped back in the chair like that.  His arms are dangling at his sides and his legs are stretched out in front of him, underneath the table, resting on his heels.

He rocks his feet slightly, from side to side, when he says, "I just sat down, I thought we were resting."  The words nearly come out as a whine, as if he can't catch a break, and the sound grates against Nami's short reserve of patience.

"I'd love to rest," she snaps, "But you're in the only chair!"

"It's not the only chair," Luffy says, glancing around the cafe.  His quick survey yields the very same results as Nami's - every other chair in the cafe is occupied - and still he muscles up the nerve to raise an eyebrow at her and ask, "Did you even look for one?"

"Of course I looked for one, Luffy," she says slowly, smiling that dangerous smile, "I'm not an  _ idiot _ , just give me the chair!"

"No way," he says, frowning apprehensively and gripping the bottom of the seat, "I was here first!"

"I don't care, get up!  My feet are killing me."

"My feet hurt, too!"

"I'm wearing heels!  Do you know how hard it is to walk in heels?"

"It's not my fault your shoes are stupid."

Nami draws in the indignant breath so respond, but stops herself, holding her hands up and releasing a sigh, instead.   _ He's just an idiot, _ she thinks, closing her eyes, because just looking at him is getting on her nerves right now.  She's exhausted.  She isn't going to waste her energy defending her shoes against that unfounded and ridiculous accusation and she certainly isn't going to waste it bickering over a chair with him.   _ He's just an idiot. _  She turns abruptly away, prepared to trek the remaining four and a half miles down to the docks so long as it will keep her from putting said shoe through the captain's head.

Two hands grip her waist before she can take a single step forward, and Luffy pulls her down.  She hits his lap with a startled,  _ ooph _ , feels his legs shift under her as he puts his feet flat on the ground to support her weight.  His arms slide around her waist and he laces his fingers together, tucking them against her stomach as he leans back in his seat.  Nami twists around to glare at him, grabbing the edge of the table.

"What're you doing?" she snaps, and tries to stand.  She pushes herself up, one hand on the table and the other pulling his interlocked hands apart, but she barely leaves his lap before Luffy pulls her firmly back down, his fingers digging into her hips to hold her in place.  "Luffy!"

"We're both sitting, now," he says, frowning slightly, "What's the problem?"

_ "You're _ the problem, let me up!"

"You wanted to sit!"

  
"Not on you!"

"Why not?"

That's the trouble with his logic - sometimes it is utterly flawless.

"Oh...  _ never mind _ ," Nami sighs, rolling her eyes, and slumps forward against the table.

She crosses her arms, burying her face in the crook of her elbow.  It definitely feels good to be off her feet -  _ finally _ \- but she clings to her irritation, unwilling to admit that she's actually, surprisingly comfortable, even if he's too stupid to be smug about it.  When he's sure she isn't going to try to get up again, Luffy relaxes his grip on her waist.  He drapes his arms over her legs this time, so his hands are laying on her thighs, and after a while his right leg starts leaning slowly to the right, the left, then back again, the rhythm sluggish.

His knee is pressed into the back of hers, so her leg sways when his does, though the movement is awkward because her leg is resting at a different angle than his, and she's trying to keep her knees together for a reason -- this is a  _ skirt, _ after all.

He's making that extremely difficult.

"Stop it," she says.

To her complete surprise, he does.  But that same leg sways again, not a minute later.  He isn't really aware of the movement (he does everything without thinking), but Nami drops her arm, anyway, and pinches the outside of his leg, stretching his skin.  Luffy shouts, his knee jerking up and banging hers against the underside of the table - Nami swears and lets go of his leg - and Luffy sits upright, his arms tightening around her once more as he pulls himself up.  Around the fresh throbbing in her knee, she feels his fingers press into her stomach, through her shirt, and she snaps up off the table, glowering at him, _ "If you pinch me -!!" _

Luffy pouts, frowning, but he doesn't dare close his fingers.

_ "You  _ pinched  _ me..." _

"I told you to stop," she says tartly.

She lays her head back down, brimming with annoyance, and Luffy sinks back into his chair.  He keeps his hands around her stomach, fingers laced.  And he no-doubt thinks she's presented a valid argument - she  _ did _ warn him, so it was his own fault - because when he shifts his knee a few minutes later, swaying it slightly to the right, he catches himself and snaps his knees together again, holding still.  He moves one of his thumbs, instead, as if this movement is small enough to go unnoticed.  Nami lets it go without comment, smiling into the crook of her arm; she can't win for losing and this is as good as it's going to get.

 


	19. the endless sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skypiea. prompt was: MORE THAN ALIVE

She knows what this moment is.

This is when the song starts, a slow  _ clang, clang, clang _ descending in the distance and carrying on across the seas.  This is when all the adrenaline seeps out and leaves you breathless; your knees weak, your hands shaking, your heart pounding in your chest.  This is when the storm has passed and the danger is gone.  When there is peace.  This is when the laughter reels, and the tears fall - when the clouds disperse, and the sun shines, and the golden bell rings - and rings, and rings.  But this time, for this moment, there is nobody else.

There is just the two of them - and Luffy is sprawled on his back, breathing slowly and staring up at an endless sky - and Nami is sitting nearby, quiet and smiling.  She watches the slow rise and fall of his chest, the tired, darting movement of his eyes as they look from one cloud to another.  He doesn't have a care in the world right now. The bout of desperate frustration has passed because he did what he said he was going to do, and he's satisfied with that.

_ How stupid, _ she thinks, to go so far for some stranger they just met a few days ago.  A man they will probably never see again.

But that's just how Luffy is.

He's always going to do whatever he wants - even if it's something for someone else.

She wants to punch him for it, but for the sake of progress, she says, "We're stuck up here."  Not with any kind of urgency.  She doesn't expect him to respond right away, let alone get up immediately to prove her wrong, but Luffy sits up, seconds after the words leave her lips.  He looks at her, with the broadest grin, and while more often than not that's enough to unsettle even the hardiest sailor there is something different about it this time.

He's relaxed and quiet - as if everything else has washed away.  There's no jittery, excited fidgeting, no loud uproarious laughter to accompany the terrible idea he'll no-doubt foster in order to get them down.  He hasn't thought of anything.  He's just... happy.  Happy and staring, and alright, maybe it is a little unsettling.

"What?" Nami asks, amused.  It's probably something stupid, something overly simple that she's going to want to punch him for saying.

Luffy grins, shrugging his shoulders.

"You stayed with me."

"Well, someone had to," she says, smiling, because she was right.

Idiot.

 


	20. how much they cost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: ASHED

Nami is asleep at her desk when the lantern tips off and crashes to the floor, caught in the not-so-gentle sway of the ship.  The shattering glass wakes her and Nami jerks upright, blinking heavy-eyed around the dark cabin, frowning at the orange flicker at the edges of her vision and rubbing her eyes.  She feels something hot against her ankle and yelps in surprise, yanking her leg up and looking down.  The smell of smoke and oil burns her lungs, flames sweeping across the oil and eating away at the boards underneath, the plush rug - and the charts and oceanography books she has laying out, in case she needs them.

Shouting, Nami scrambles backwards, knocking the chair aside, and hears the muffled cacophony of  _ thuds _ and loud inquiries from the men's cabin as she reaches in to snatch the nearest stack of charts out of the fire's fast-moving path.  She burns her hands, but saves the charts, and tosses them aside to get the others.  Distantly, she hears her name, fists banging on the door separating the cabins.

It's locked.

This does not stop Luffy from kicking it in and climbing through the window-sized opening as the door bangs across the room, hitting the bar.

Behind him comes everyone else: Usopp howls for water, running past her for the stairs.  Sanji grabs Nami by the arms and lifts her effortlessly away; she drags an armful of books and charts with her, though they're gritty with glass and oil and singed around the edges, some of them half-burned away.  Luffy is already beating his hands against the fire, heedless of the heat or broken glass, slinging what charts and books he can backwards out of the hungry flames and muttering,  _ "hot hot hot!" _ between his teeth, as if that will deter it.

The whole ordeal lasts seconds, at the most.

By the time Usopp comes tripping down the stairs, hauling a host of wet towels to throw over the burning oil, Luffy has already put it out.  The damage, thankfully, isn't really all that bad; the rug is burned in a wide arc along the edge, where the oil soaked in, and the floorboards are black and strewn with ashy remains, but it's mostly surface-damage.  Luffy stands over the spot, his feet on either side of the broken lantern, burned parchment, and the books curled inside their covers, panting and waving his hands.

"I got it," he says breathlessly, his chest heaving, "I got it, guys."

Chopper finally manages to heave himself into the girl's cabin, being both too-small and too-large to make the transition in any sort of timely fashion.  He hurries over to assess the damage to Luffy's hands and feet, while Sanji looks at Nami and says, with plaintive concern, "Nami, you're hands are burned!"

"No, no, I'm fine," she says hurriedly, turning her hands over to examine the light patterns of red welling up along the back of her hands, the pads of her fingers.  Her hands are trembling, her head heart still pounding from the sudden excitement.  "It's not that bad, I'll be alright.  Talk about scary, though!"

Usopp lets out a heavy sigh, the wet towels soaking through his clothes and pooling water on the floor.

"Really, this poor ship has suffered enough, don't you think?"  He turns to look incredulously at Robin, who has been standing at the foot of the stairs, holding a bucket of water in her arms, nearly the entire time.  "Robin, what were you waiting for?  Why didn't you put it out??"

She meets his gaze with her usual smiling somberness.

"The Captain seemed to have it under control."

"From who's perspective...?" Usopp murmurs doubtfully, looking at Luffy, who only grins at him over the top of Choppers head.

Sanji rights the fallen chair, offering it to Nami with a small smile and gesture; he looks at Usopp and Robin, then, saying, "It's no good throwing water on an oil or grease fire, anyway - Usopp was right to get the towels.  But it's a common mistake, Robin~"  His attention shifts again to Nami as she sinks appreciatively into the seat.  "Nami, how about some tea to calm your nerves?"

"That'd be great, Sanji," Nami says, smiling.

He bustles obligingly up the stairs, pausing to unburden Robin from the bucket and offer her a cup of coffee, as Usopp returns the towels to the bathroom and Chopper runs to get his bandages and burn ointment.  This time, Zoro helps the tiny reindeer through the opening, leaning one hand against the threshold and ducking his head and shoulders into the room to see what all the noise was about, though he looks far from concerned.

Frankly, Nami is surprised to see him awake at all.

"You guys alright?" he asks, looking at Luffy, then Nami.

"We're good," the captain says, grinning and sitting on his haunches.

He drapes his arms over his legs, his knees tucked into the crook of his elbows, and Zoro nods and retires to his hammock.  Abruptly, Nami and Luffy are left alone - with nothing but the singed parchment and wood, and the acrid smell of oil between them.  Nami gets up, slowly, to see what she can salvage from the mess and silently lamenting the loss, throwing an ugly look at the broken lantern for all the trouble it caused.  She should have thought to put it out and just gone to bed instead of laying her head down on the desk.

Where her books are concerned, the covers took the brunt of the damage; they're frayed and crispy around the edges, but still mostly legible.  Unfortunately, the loose charts that were lying around weren't so lucky.  Luffy breaks the silence first, reaching forward to pick a handful of only-half-charts up off the floor, and he mutters, "Sorry."

Nami looks at him in surprise, her brow knotted.

"What?"

She gets a good look at his hands, then, as he shuffles through the ruined charts.  There are rising, bright red welts and blisters splashed all the way up his forearms, where he slammed them down in the hot oil, and what bit of his hands aren't burned are cut up from the broken glass.  His knees and bare feet aren't much better off, but his hands are the worst because he's an idiot and he doesn't think things through.  Laying over it all, and probably stinging mercilessly, is a fine coat of damp ash, which rubs off on the charts in his hands, though they're burned beyond recognition, anyway.

Luffy grimaces when he notices the fresh smudges and quickly passes the charts to Nami, who takes them without a word, adding them to the sad pile in her lap.

His hands are shaking worse than hers are, but he doesn't seem to notice.

"You worked hard on these," he says, looking around.

That's what the apology was for, Nami realizes.  He wasn't worried about the ship - though, obviously, that was part of it - he was worried about the charts.  Rearing back, Nami flings them at him, catching him full in the face.  The charts crumple and flutter noisily, dusting the floor with more ash and loose flakes of parchment as they come apart, and Luffy tips backwards, sitting heavily with a small cry of surprise.

Nami scowls at him, sitting on her knees in front of him.

"Idiot," she says, pointing, "Look at your hands!"

Luffy lifts his hands to look, frowning.  He plucks a wide shard of glass out of his palm, below his thumb, but says, "What?  It's no big deal," as it  _ pings _ to the floor.  Nami gestures around at the blackened boards, at the books and charts that didn't make it.

" _ This _ is no big deal," she says, "I can draw them again, and the books can be replaced!"

"I know.  But you already drew these again, didn't you?"

Again, somehow, his insightfulness catches her off-guard.  These  _ are  _ charts that she's drawn again, just recently - the first time since drawing them a lifetime ago, in Arlong Park - and she is surprised, and not surprised at all, that Luffy noticed, or recognized them, or however he knows. Maybe he just guessed, because he's not exactly the type to observe such things.  He can't even read the charts, let alone tell them apart, but he knows that they're hers, and how much they cost her.  He is already picking up the charts off the floor again, and Nami sighs, reaching over and taking them out of his hands.

This is just how Luffy is and she loves him and hates him for it.

 


	21. a quizzical look

Luffy is a little biased toward the color, but he thinks Nami looks good in red.  He doesn't really care either way; she wears lots of clothes and lots of colors and he'll never understand why girls change outfits so many times, anyway, or why they like to be so clean all the time... but most of his favorite things are red.  The band in his hat, meat, parts of the Sunny, that awesome fish Usopp caught that they're going to eat for dinner.  Nami's eyes are kind of red sometimes - a dark red, like wood - when the light hits them right.

...Can that be one of his favorite things?

Looking at Nami when she's looking at him?

She catches him doing it one time, when she comes out of the girls' cabin wearing a short red-and-black striped vest over a black collared shirt, and shoots him a quizzical look as she tugs on the bottom hem.  "What are you staring at?"

Luffy grins.  "You look nice."

The comment catches Nami off guard - Luffy knows it does because he watches her eyebrows slant together, like he's said something suspicious -  _ is _ it suspicious to tell her she looks nice?  He's learned the hard way not to tell her she looks  _ scary _ and nice is the opposite of that, right?  Maybe that's something she charges for and now he owes her more money.  He usually walks right into that, anyway, she charges for the weirdest stuff.  As quickly as the look crosses her face, though, it vanishes.

Nami smiles, one shoulder popping up in a shrug as she turns away, "Of course I look nice!"

Her whole face lights up in that brief second and Luffy thinks, abruptly, of that old guy with the scars and the pinwheel, and the promise that he made.  Suddenly - again, maybe - Nami's smile is one of his favorite things, too, and that's fine.  Even if he owes her money for it.

 


	22. (if I win)

Nami has never particularly liked slot machines.

You have to have a sharp eye and a quick hand - and she has both, thank you - but it also requires a lot of luck and she really hates to leave anything,  _ particular her money _ , to chance.  She's better at poker, where you can smile, wink, and show-a-little-shoulder your way either into an exceptionally good hand, or around any man's bluff, provided you're good at what you're doing - which she is, thanks to years and years of practice.  You can also fold when you know you're going to lose.

But the tables are all too crowded for her taste, and she hasn't seen a group that she could wheedle her way into without too much trouble or competition, so Nami sits herself down at a slot machine and reluctantly puts a token in.  She crosses one leg over the other, exposing a generous amount of thigh as her dress shifts, incase anyone is looking and wants to buy her a drink (no sense in spending her own money when plenty of men will do it for her).  She pulls the lever down to start the roll and waits, watching the assorted colors of fruit as they spin.  This particular slot machine was her pick because of the theme, and Nami smiles to herself as three little orange blurs skim past her vision.

She cranks the lever, holding her breath - and one tangerine slowly falls into place.

Nami grins and cranks it again - another tangerine.

_ "Yes!" _ she says, squirming in her seat and sitting up a little straighter.  She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, her eyes trained on that last revolving reel, and tells herself to take it easy.  No rush.  Don't get too excited.  Breathe.  Shifting her grip on the lever, she starts to yank it down - 

"HEY, NAMI!"

\- and jerks in surprise at the sound of her name, twisting around on the stool.  She sees a waving arm extended over the crowd first, and then Luffy emerges, grinning, shoving his way through a group of disgruntled-looking men in expensive suits.  Nami only glares at him in response.  Her heart bottoms out, though, when she hears the  _ clanking  _ sound of the last reel slowing down.  She turns back to the machine, realizing with belated despair that she pulled the lever without noticing, and clenches her fists, shaking them.

"Damnit!  Come on!" she screams at it, as the slot creeps around.

The third and final tangerine she needs clicks into view, and Nami catches her breath - only it settles just above the center row where it belongs, with one last, dull  _ clink. _  The gears stop turning, the machine falls silent.  A bright pink strawberry stares her in the face, ruining her perfect line of orange.  And with it comes incessant laughing, though that's only Luffy as he gallops up to her, grinning, his hands stuffed into his pockets as he leans around her shoulder.

"Here you are, Nami!  I need somethin'," he says, then notices her shaking, "Hey, is somethin' wronNGHH!!?"

Nami grabs him by the neck with a growl of rage, and shakes him violently.

_ "I put a ten-thousand berri token in this machine!!" _

She screams this hysterically, alarming the other gamblers at neighboring machines and tables, and she doesn't even care.  Luffy only makes a choking noise at her that almost sounds like her name, his fingers scrabbling at her hand - honestly, if he wanted to get away, he could - and Nami squeezes tighter until his face turns blue.  She enjoys watching him squirm for a few seconds before she slowly relaxes her grip, her eyes narrowed.

_ "What _ do you  _ want?" _ she asks, her voice low and deadly.

Luffy is sweating, gulping down what air he can.

"I wanted..." he wheezes, his hands clamped around her wrist.  He averts his eyes nervously and mumbles, "... to borrow some money..."

"IDIOT, YOU JUST LOST ME MONEY!" Nami screams, outraged, and rams his head into the offensive machine.

It doesn't hurt him, but  _ damnit it makes her feel better! _  The nerve of him!  Asking for money!   _ Damnit, she hates these stupid machines! _  Why did she do this, it was  _ so stupid! _  The impact of Luffy's forehead bouncing off the front of the machine, with the weight of her rage behind it, apparently upsets something on the inside.  There is a loud grinding sound that catches Nami's attention, makes her loosen her grip, and she glances back up at the slots (as Luffy moans and tries to free himself).

With a faint  _ clang _ the gears in the last reel shift and, slowly, the tangerine falls into it's place in the horizon line.

Three in a row.

The lights at the top of the machine go off, along with a distant bell from the inside, singing in victory,  _ ding-ding-ding-ding-ding! _  Nami watches with open-mouthed delight as heavy, ten-thousand berri exchange tokens start falling out into the cache in front of her, filling up the basket.  The sound is like music in her ears.  Once the flow of tokens finally stops and the machine resets itself for another round, Nami pulls the basket into her lap and lays over the top of it, cradling it against her chest and pressing her face into the cool tokens.

_ "Ooh, this is the best~" _ she sighs, then notices Luffy still lurking beside her, rubbing his neck.  She smiles, batting her eyes at him, and asks, so sweetly, "What did you want?" as if the request has been wiped from her memory.

"I need some money," Luffy says bravely, with a grimace.

Nami's smile slips, and Luffy flinches back from her slightly when she sits up.

"Oh right," she says, with no sweetness at all, cradling her basket of tokens as if it's the most precious thing in the world (for her, it is, because when she leaves this casino she can exchange these tokens for  _ real money _ and there is nothing she loves more than money (sometimes)).  She looks at Luffy, suspicious and curious.  "Well, what's it for?"

He manages to grow back some enthusiasm and grins.

"For this awesome thing Usopp found for us to do, but it costs money and we don't have enough.  So give me some."

"How much?"

"...There are a bunch of zeros on the sign."

"That doesn't tell me a whole lot, now, does it, Luffy?"

"No, I guess not..."

He sighs, his hands on his hips, and is maybe disappointed in himself for not having the foresight to make Usopp come with him, or else write it down.  Nami taps her fingers against the side of the bucket, thinking.  Luffy's dumb-luck might come in handy... provided he can be persuaded to sit still long enough for her to utilize it and not screw everything up for her at the same time.  He's not the most reliable person to loan money to, either, but Usopp and Chopper are good about keeping up with their debt.

"Okay," Nami says, smiling, "I'll loan you the money."

Luffy's face lights up.

"Yeah?"

"On one condition!"

"Oh.  What is it?"

Nami indicates the stool beside her, and the bucket of tokens, and says, "I'm going to put five more tokens in this machine and play.  If you sit here with me and  _ don't touch anything, _ I'll lend you the money.  (If I win.)  You almost cost me ten thousand berris just now, so that's how you'll make up for it~"

"Alright, fine," Luffy says, slumping down onto the stool, "Is it gonna take too long?"

"It shouldn't.  I'll go ahead and give you the money, but I'm trusting you to sit here with me until I'm finished."

"I will, but we need real money, not those coin things."

"Don't be stupid, I have real money, too."

Tucking two fingers in between her breasts, she produces a neat wad of bills marked with tens and hundreds.  She counts through them, "If this isn't enough, you'll just have to find something else to do.  Give it to Usopp.  And I want my change, and all three of you owe me interest on this loan, do you understand?"  Luffy is holding his hand out to her, palm up, but seems reluctant to take the money once Nami lays it in his hand.  She raises an eyebrow, wondering if he's changed his mind.  "What?"

Luffy grimaces.

"Nami, I don't want your boob money!"

"How rude," Nami sniffs, indignant, "Where else am I supposed to keep it, Luffy?  This dress doesn't have pockets."  She indicates what little dress there is with both hands, and it's true - it doesn't even have sleeves.  Luffy doesn't say anything.  "If you don't want it, give it back."

Nami extends her hand for it - of course, they'll still owe her interest either way since she technically  _ did _ give him the loan, so it doesn't really matter to her if he takes it or not - and Luffy's fingers close around the money.  He stuffs it into his pocket, looking at her expectantly, and Nami smiles, moving to put another token in the slot machine.

Maybe these things aren't so bad, after all.

 


	23. skimming along the edge

Sometime in the night, Nami hears the cabin door open.

Dimly, in the back of her consciousness, she assumes that it's Robin coming or going and drifts right back to sleep.  Something drops onto the edge of the mattress, though, two heavy hands falling on either side of her waist, and then there is a knee pushing roughly between hers before a weight settles over her.  Nami shouts something into the pillow, jabbing her elbow back, and is rewarded with an all-too-familiar  _ oof! _ and an impact that hurts her elbow, but, unfortunately, not her assailant - because he's made of rubber.

The straw-hat flutters past her in the dark, skimming along the edge of the bed and to the floor.

_ "Luffy!" _ Nami hisses, cradling her smarting elbow and twisting around to look at him when he leans up on his hands, "What the hell're you doing?"

"'M tryin' to lay down," he murmurs, his voice heavy and tired, "Why'd you hit me?"

"You -!" Nami begins loudly, but stops herself, pursing her lips into a thin line.  She sits up to look across the room, bumping and jostling Luffy as she turns over, because he is still half-laying on her, breaking every rule about "personal space".  Robin is sleeping with her back to them - assuming the small commotion hasn't woken her and she's just politely ignoring it.  Nami glares at Luffy again, jabbing her finger into his chest, and whispers fiercely,  _ "You scared me! _  What're you creeping in here for?  You've got your own bed."

"I know."

"So get out!"

She brings a knee up to shove him off, forgetting that Luffy is laying on top of the blanket  _ (the idiot) _ and, consequentialy, trapping her legs.  She barely manages to shift before he realizes what she's trying to do and moves to stop her.  Luffy reaches back, grabbing her knees, and lays her back down with one swift, tugging motion; Nami's back slides against the mattress and she squeaks in protest, surprised to find herself pinned beneath him, with Luffy looking down at her, his nose barely an inch away.

And suddenly, this sheet is just not thick enough.

Maybe it's because he's constantly stretching, being pinched and pulled at and showing off those rubbery qualities - Nami finds it incredibly easy to forget how  _ solid _ he can be, how much muscle is hidden underneath that bouncy, elastic (goofy, stupid, childish) exterior.  It's warm tonight, so Luffy has foregone a shirt entirely and it isn't as if Nami ever sleeps in anything other than a T-shirt and panties, anyway.  So, really, there's hardly anything between them, and she can feel every muscled inch of him; his legs and his hips, his chest and stomach, pressing more firmly against hers with each slow breath he takes.  And maybe she feels it more acutely because her pulse is racing, heat flooding her face.

She's glad it's dark and he can't see it, though he would probably only think she's gotten flushed from the heat.

_ (He wouldn't be entirely wrong, would he?) _

Luffy shifts on top of her, then, his hips digging into hers, just slightly, and Nami twitches and gasps.  She can feel the rough fabric of his jeans through the  _ (not-thick-enough) _ sheet - he's only moving his legs, though, pressing his knees into the mattress so his full weight isn't on her, one knee between her legs and one on the other side of her thigh.  Nami tries not to think about this.  But it doesn't help -  _ not one little bit _ \- when he buries his face in her neck and lets out a sigh, his breath warm against her skin.

"I wanna sleep in here," he murmurs, in that tired, oblivious voice.

Frowning and squirming, Nami struggles to get a grip.

"What for...?" she asks, and manages to drag her hands out from under the blanket in the short pause before he answers.  She rests her hands on Luffy's shoulders, waiting to see if she should just hurriedly shove him off or give in and let him stay (even though he'll likely stay, whether she wants him to or not).

Luffy's shoulders shrug a little.

"Cause I haven't slept with you in a while."

"So?"

"So, I like sleeping with you."  He grins against the curve of her shoulder.  "You smell nice."

Nami doesn't know what to say to this at first, because Luffy is not a sweet-talker - far,  _ far _ from it, actually, nowhere  _ near  _ the remote area of it, considering most things he thinks of as compliments are really stupidly offensive.  It's just the truth; he  _ does _ think she smells nice.  Eventually, smiling, she settles for, "I suppose I  _ would  _ smell nice compared to the sweaty air in the men's cabin," and Luffy raises his head just enough to grin at her.

"So, yeah?" he asks expectantly.

"You're not laying on top of me, I'll suffocate.  And get off the blanket!"

"Okay, fine, so beside you, then?"

"That's fine."

"Can I lay my arm over you?"

"No, it's hot!  Keep to yourself."

He does, of course, but not for very long.  Eventually, he pins her down against the mattress again and his arms find their way around her, the fingers of his left hand tucked in between the buttons of her shirt, pressing into her stomach; his right hand embarrassingly close to doing the same at her left hip, with the waistband of her panties; his legs tangled up in hers; his nose and mouth against the back of her neck, right below her hairline.  This is how he finally falls asleep, breathing heavy and deep, and Nami has learned, months before now, to stop batting his hands away, and pinching his knees when they wedge between her legs.

He never means anything by it.

(Maybe that's the part that still surprises her.)

 


	24. these are huge chunks

On the rare occasion, Luffy is good to go adventuring with.

He keeps the danger at bay (when he isn't attracting it), he doesn't mind a leisurely pace (he will run ahead every now and then, but he is always within earshot), and he generally keeps you in high spirits (provided doing this doesn't require any singing or loud, obnoxious noises on his part).  Today is one of those rare occasions, and Nami is glad she decided to venture away from the ship.  The island's weather is warm, but not humid, the sky cloudless and a deep, beautiful blue, and the forest has proved itself friendly enough - so far.  The navigator likes to stay realistic, even if this small adventure has actually been nice.

"Robin would really like  _ this  _ place, huh?" Luffy calls excitedly, from where he is clambering along the rugged edge of a partially-fallen bridge.

He steadily makes his way back toward Nami, nevermind the rocks that slide loose under his feet and plummet into the river, roaring dangerously several yards below.  Nami is sitting in a flat place on the bank, where the ground gives abruptly away to a steep, stone wall that drops down into the river.  She assumes this was a man-made canal at some point, because the opposite bank is made of stone, too, as far as she can see.  Behind her is a nest of abandoned stone houses, though they've long been overtaken by the forest; they walked right through the thick of them without even noticing at first, and Nami is sure that the archeologist would, indeed, be interested if she were here.

As it is, it's just the three of them.  Zoro is snoring, laid up in the shade among the bowing roots of a nearby tree (which is slowly consuming one of the stone houses) with his swords and his backpack, and Luffy jumps from midway across the bridge to the bank beside her, landing firmly on his feet.  Nami almost starts to reprimand him for jumping so close to her - really, what if she lost her balance and fell?  Or dropped her clipboard? - but she decides not to.

Luffy swings his own pack off his shoulders as he turns and sits beside her, thrusting his legs out over the ledge like Nami's are.  He bounces his heels back against the mossy stone, not worried at all if he loses his sandals.  He grins, and Nami indulges him with a smile of her own, lowering her pen (she's been making geography notes for the map she intends to draw later, once they're safely back on the ship).

"What?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothin'," Luffy says, already digging in his pack, "You wanna eat lunch now?"

He's been asking for lunch since the moment they set out, but Nami has managed to stave him off of the lunchboxes.  She knows he will just be hungry again an hour after he eats, because Sanji can only do so much to fit enough food for Luffy into these lunchboxes, no matter how big they are and no matter how valiantly he tries, and she doesn't want to hear Luffy whine.  Now, though, it's just after noon - Nami notes, with a quick, assessing glance upwards - and she's kind of hungry herself.

"Sure, why not."  She sets her clipboard down behind her, well out of the way, and turns to look over her shoulder for the swordsman.  "Zoro!  Hey, we're eating, now!"

His only response is to snore a little louder, so Nami leaves him be.

He'll eat when he wants to.

Luffy finally produces her lunchbox from the depths of his pack - all the things he deems unnecessary piled precariously beside him on the ledge; knife, rope, matches, first-aid kit, and the like - and he hands her the dark orange box, with the amused comment, "Man, yours is kinda small."

It's a normal-sized lunchbox, but, comparatively, Luffy's is four times the size of hers and takes up most of the pack, which is why it goes in first, under everything else (this is also to dissuade him from sneaking it out and eating it when he thinks no one is looking).  Luffy sets his own lunchbox aside and actually takes the time to repack the bag.  He does this half-heartedly, cramming things in so that everything is still pretty much just jutting out of the opening, but at least he made the effort and has the sense to push it back from the ledge.

He pins his lunchbox between his knees, then, and pulls off the lid.

Sanji indulged the captain's vehement request for sandwiches - _"If we're gonna go hiking, we gotta have sandwiches!  Everybody knows that!"_ \- though Nami's single sandwich is a bit nicer-looking than Luffy's six are.  His are basically just piles of meat (not _thinly_ _sliced_ , either, these are huge chunks we're talking about) wedged between two pieces of bread; Nami's is a perfectly even distribution of lightly-toasted bread, some fancy cheeses, mayonnaise (spread in the shape of a heart, she suspects, but doesn't bother to affirm), and a few delicate slices of meat.

Even if it's just a sandwich, their cook doesn't let you down; there are even some neat wedges of fruit for dessert.  Her sandwich in hand, Nami sets her lunchbox beside her, so she doesn't knock it off the ledge.

Before she can take so much as one bite, though, Luffy apparently notices the state of her sandwich.

"Hey," he says sharply, his own sandwich clutched in his hands, halfway to his mouth.  Nami is surprised to see that he hasn't taken a bite, yet, because he's so focused on hers for whatever reason.  "What's wrong with your sandwich?"

Nami looks at him, bewildered, then at her sandwich.

"What?  Nothing."  She turns it over, just to be sure, and even peels it apart a little.  God, she hopes it isn't a bug or something.  She shudders at the thought, and frowns.  "Nothing!  There's nothing wrong with it, why?"

"There's hardly anything on it."

She nearly out-right laughs at this, "Not everyone's stomach is made of rubber, Luffy."

Luffy isn't listening.

"What was Sanji thinking?" he asks no one in particular, pulling his own sandwich apart.  He puts his bread between his teeth.  "Girls need meat, too!"

"Luffy, I  _ have  _ meat, see?  Of course, it doesn't look like - Hey!  No, no, I don't - Luffy!"

Nami opens up her sandwich to show him that there is, in fact, meat in there (revealing the smeared mayonnaise-heart in the process), and holds it out for him to see - she does not count on him pulling several pieces of meat off his own sandwich and plopping them down onto hers.  This random act of generosity stuns her, but only for an instant - it hardly even halves Luffy's sandwich, but it's way too much for Nami's.

"Luffy, I can't eat all this," she says, dismayed, and starts to take it off.

Luffy has already put his sandwich back together, though, and taken the first bite (which means half the sandwich is already gone, in the blink of an eye, and Nami still silently marvels at this).  Luffy grins at her, chewing and looking like he's done her the biggest favor.

"It's okay," he says, around the sandwich, "I don't mind sharing.  You can have more for another sandwich, too, if you want."

"I have enough for three sandwiches  _ here!" _

"You're welcome~"

He swallows, takes another bite, and just like that one sandwich is down, with five to go.  There is no giving the meat back, now, and Nami sighs, thinking that there's no sense in wasting it, either.  She puts her bread back on, looks at the now-very-intimidating sandwich, and reminds herself that Luffy will have likely forgotten his good-deed by the time he finishes his own lunchbox, when the hunger is starting to claw it's way back to it's perpetual seat in his stomach, and she can just give him whatever she doesn't finish.

 


	25. the only one that sees it

Usopp finds a bag of two-year-old water-balloons hiding in the bottom of his locker in the men's cabin.

He can't remember what he originally wanted them for, but  _ "Waste not, want not," _ right?  So he spends an hour in the bath filling up these balloons, and initiates the 1ST ANNUAL STRAW HAT WATER-BALLOON FIGHT by tipping one of the wooden buckets - he has six more already prepared - over the rail above the galley, where Luffy, Nami, and Brook are standing, enjoying the warm sunny weather.  The water-balloons are all red, each easily twice the size of his fist, and while they haven't lost their elasticity, the dye leaks; the balloons burst in a waterfall spray of pinkish-red, thoroughly drenching the three below.

Nami shrieks, ducking against the wall; Brook stands there, gaping, water dribbling through his jaw and into his cup of once-black tea; and Luffy howls with laughter, stomping his feet and splashing the water on the deck.  He beats down some of his excitement to help Usopp carry the remaining buckets down to the lawn, so everyone will have a decent chance, and the resulting commotion draws Chopper and Franky eagerly into the fray.  Sanji joins in to dutifully guard Nami~swan from any wayward, watery missiles, and Nami is perfectly content to stand behind him and hurl balloons at Usopp for dying her hair the color of pink-lemonade with his stupid balloons.

Robin is reading in a chair on the forecastle deck, near Sunny's figurehead.  So she is (by mutual, unspoken agreement) off-limits, and Zoro is safe, as well - only because he is snoring strategically against the balustrade behind her.

It happens right in the middle of the fun - Sanji is preoccupied with cracking Brook's skull for his inquiry about when the  _ 1st Annual Straw Hat Wet T-shirt Contest  _ will begin, and Nami is laughing, retreating toward the mast for cover while her human shield is busy.  Luffy is apparently thinking the same thing, toting an armful of water-balloons across the lawn.  When he is halfway to her, though, Franky shoots several balloons at him in rapid succession (that he can adapt his shoulder rocket-launchers to accommodate balloons is something Nami will forever puzzle over) and Luffy stops to shield himself, his arms thrown up to cover his straw-hat.

Usopp and Chopper are attacking the cyborg's right flank, so he turns his frontal assault on them, next, laughing loud and mechanically just to hear the delighted (manly) squeals - and Luffy straightens up.  The balloons in his arms have fallen to the lawn and some of them burst, but others only bounced a little, and Luffy, laughing, reaches down to pick them up.  He pauses, though, one hand extended, and Nami is the only one watching, so she is the only one that sees it.

She notices, with growing dismay, the way his posture stiffens, and the slow way he turns his hand over.

Luffy stands there, looking down at his hand, the dyed-water running in red rivulets down his arm, across his palm.

He shakes - the smallest, slightest tremor - and for one brief second he looks like he's going to a bad place.  Nami has no word for the expression on his face because she has never seen it before - she has probably made that face herself, but not Luffy - never Luffy.   _ Wrecked  _ is the closest thing she has for it.

_ Wrecked, and sad, and broken. _

Luffy is wrecked and sad and broken, for all of two seconds  _ (or all of two years) _ and Nami does the first thing she can think of: she grabs the bucket sitting on the bench circling the mast - she filled it herself (well, made Sanji fill it), to wash the dye off later - and she slings the water at Luffy.  The force of the water makes him stagger, but it does the job.  The red washes away, diluted and slipping across the grass, forming clear puddles tinged with pink around Luffy's sandaled feet, and he chokes and sputters, and turns to look at her.

She can still see the edges of that look on his face, like he is wholly surprised to see her there, and she flashes him a desperate smile.

"Got you, Luffy," Nami says, and tries not to sound as breathless as she feels.

Her heart hammers in her chest.

Brook and Chopper choose that moment to run, screaming, in between them, "Augh! This water stinks!!  It smells like Luffy!" and "Please don't, I worked fifty years on this complexion!  _ Yohoho! _ " - and Luffy takes off running with them, laughing louder than the rest.  Franky and Usopp are hot on their heels, raining water-balloons down on their opponents with their superior targeting systems and throwing arms, heedless of their cries for mercy.  Nami, slowly, sinks down onto the bench, hugging the bucket, but only shrugs up her shoulders and offers a smiling excuse when Sanji comes over, dripping wet and frowning with concern as he loosens his tie, to ask if he can get her something.

She just doesn't feel like playing anymore.

 


	26. impossibly blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for LuffyxNami Week, 2014! Day 1. Daily Life / "day off"

They hit a brief patch on the volatile seas of the New World, where the water is calm and the sky isn’t raining down bolts of lightning powerful enough to sink an island.  There are no ships in sight, no sea monsters, or other miscellaneous terrors.  It’s warm, bright and sunny, a handful of white clouds moving slowly along the horizon.  The boys are swimming with Dock 4 open, their Devil Fruit users clinging to inner tubes and watching with barely masked envy as the others make a contest out of cannonballing off the foremost mast - whooping and hollering and showering the lawn.  Robin is judging said contest from underneath an umbrella on the galley deck, her book resting forgotten in her lap.

It causes an uproar of protest when it becomes clear she's favoring Franky, due to his great size (and probably to tease the children).

"That's not fair, Robin!  Be fair!"

"Robin, size doesn't matter, you know!  It's all about technique...!"

Franky laughs, voice booming across the open water as Sanji growls in outrage,  _ "Hey, watch what you're saying to the Lady, long-nose!" _

"It looks so fun...!  I wish I could cannonball, I'd show you guys what a real splash is!"

" _ Yohoho! _  These old bones made quite a splash in the music industry!"

The ruckus is familiar, stupid and energetic - a medley of sounds that Nami sorely missed.  She stretches out in her chair on the lawn, basking in the warmth of the sun and smiling wider than she has in a long while.  The ship rocking on the waves, her noisy friends, the log pose needle pointing with just the smallest tremors.  It's nice being able to relax like this again.  Nami reaches up to adjust the top of her bikini, making sure the thin straps are still tucked in so her tan will be even and closing her eyes to the small breeze that picks up, tugging at the furled sails and knocking them against the mast, rustling the trees.

The sound of feet scuffing in the grass nearby intrudes on her tranquility, not five minutes later.  She'd have to be a fool not to recognize that gait.  Nami cracks an eye open, lifting a hand to shade her face from the sun.  It's Luffy, sopping wet and grinning like a fox.

The clouds have moved in and thickened a bit, skating across the sky behind her captain’s head.

“What’re you up to?” Nami asks, suspicious.

“Nothin’,” Luffy says, antsy in a way that clearly says  _ somethin’ _ .

Luffy blocks her sun as he comes to stand at the foot of the chair, his shadow falling across her, and before Nami can tell him,  _ "Move it or lose it," _ he follows his shadow's suit.  He practically pounces on her, falling between her legs, his arms winding around her middle and pulling her up against him.  The chair rocks and squeaks as his knees dig into it and Nami makes a similar noise, gasping at the shock of Luffy's cold skin against hers, her arms and knees curling up, fists clenching.

_ “Excuse you!" _ she shrieks, ramming her hand into his face, _ "Get off me!” _

Luffy laughs, his chin in the dip between her breasts.

“No way!  It's your turn!”

And then he rocks back on his knees, lifting her up from the chair and climbing awkwardly to his feet with Nami hoisted high in his arms.  Nami locks her arms around his neck when she nearly falls back over his shoulder, her thighs squeezing around his chest, hands fisting in his hair.  Luffy grabs onto one of her legs to hold her steady, fingers slipping a little, digging into the back of her thigh.  He gallops across the lawn at full-speed, a low, giddy chuckle puffing out against Nami’s chest,  _ “This's gonna be great!” _

Nami doesn’t realize what he's talking about until she twists around to see where he's taking her.

When they’re already hopping up onto the gunwale and the ocean comes into view, spreading out from one end of the sky to the other and impossibly blue.

Her stomach drops at the sight, as Luffy bends his knees to take that big, final leap.

_ “Luffy!  No!” _

But he’s laughing, launching them over the rail, and it’s too late to stop him.

Luffy goes down with a delighted call of, “GUM GUM CANNONBALL!”; Nami with a piercing, indignant shriek because her captain has  _ lost his mind! _

The water stings - a burst of cold that snatches her breath away.

The plunge is deafening, water rushing and bubbling in her ears.  Luffy’s hold on her slackens immediately, and just as Nami thinks to untangle herself from him - he's wrapped around her like an octopus - something slows their descent, buoys them right back up.  They break the surface almost as quickly as they went under, water showering down like rain.   Nami is stupefied, gasping for air, her hair dripping in her face and hanging heavy over her shoulders.  But it only takes her a second to realize the water isn't deep at all anymore.  She's on her hands and knees and it's barely up to her chin, her hands slipping on the slick, elastic surface of the bottom of the pool.  She gropes blindly at Luffy, trying to pull him up out of the water because she can hear him coughing and sputtering, feel him thrashing underneath her.

“You idiot...!" she gasps, her arms around his neck again as she sits back in his lap, pulling him up.

Luffy makes a wheezing noise she thinks might be a laugh against her neck, his arms coming up and hugging onto her elbows.

She hears Sanji howling from the gunwale ( _ "Luffy, you animal, just what the hell are you doing to Nami?!" _ ), a delighted call from Brook asking if they're both alright and hoots of laughter from the rest, interspersed with cheers.  An inner tube drops over the top of them, then.  It's big enough to slip over both their heads and it settles around their shoulders, pressing them tightly together, chest to chest.  Nami lifts a hand from around Luffy's neck, combing her hair back so she can see what's going to and to glare daggers at whoever threw this useless thing to them in two feet of water instead of stopping this idiot from jumping in the first place.

Chopper clearly isn't the culprit.

He's holding onto his own inner tube for dear life, fur soaked through and dark, bobbing on the waves far outside the swimming pool with his eyes squeezed shut.

Brook is bobbing right alongside him.

"My, that was quite ride!" the skeleton says, his boney hands gripping his own inner tube, his knees thrown over the other end of it, "I believe that scared the life out of me!  Ah, but - I'm already dead!   _ Yohoho! _ "

"Someone come get us, please!" Chopper says loudly, and Zoro takes a running leap off the deck to retrieve them.

The two squeal in surprise when he cannonballs in, Brook throwing his arms in the air as the huge wave pushes them even further out.  Usopp is laughing so hard he's nearly choking, trying to climb back in over the side of the pool; and inside the open Dock, Franky, the culprit, is grinning despite the reprimand he delivers, massive hands propped on his hips, “Hey, now, I know this pool is SUPER tough, but you’re gonna bust the bottom of it, pullin’ a stunt like that!”

Luffy's laugh is clearer this time.

"But that was a really big one, right?" he asks, sluggish and tired sounding because he's still chest-deep in water, but eager all the same.  Nami sighs tiredly, propping her elbow on Luffy's shoulder and rubbing her forehead.  She is surrounded by idiots.  Luffy hums curiously, dropping his gaze between them.  And then he starts giggling, his shoulders shaking as he looks around, jostling Nami.  When she narrows her eyes at him, he points out from under the inner tube - at the same time that Usopp spots something floating in the water and makes a mad dash for it, a sharp, delighted laugh leaving their sniper's lungs as Luffy says, "Nami, y'dummy, you lose your bathing suit if you don't keep it tied."

It takes her a few seconds to realize what he means.

She promptly grabs Luffy by the shoulders, shoving him under water and ducking forward to hold him down and hide herself at the same time, glaring at Usopp as he lifts her wayward bikini top triumphantly from the water.

_ "Give me that before I kill you both!" _

Luffy flounders, arms uselessly smacking the top of the water, legs jerking where they're pinned under Nami.  Zoro dog-paddles Chopper and Brook back to the ship, muttering  _ "What the hell's wrong with the cook?" _ when Sanji belly-flops into the pool; the resulting tremor when said cook smacks flat into the bottom of the pool takes Usopp's feet out from under him as he scrambles to oblige their navigator and save the captain.  Franky shakes his head slowly, pressing his nose to form a question-mark in his bright blue hair.

And Robin smiles as the chaos unfolds, her chin resting in her palm as she leans forward against the rail.

"A ten out of ten, Captain~"

 


	27. blue-black and freckled with stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for LuffyxNami Week, 2014! Day 2. Rendezvous / "a night under the stars"

The sky seems to stretch on forever, blue-black and freckled with stars.

There’s not a cloud in sight, a small sliver of moon sitting low on the horizon, and the snow an ocean all on its own.  It crunches under Luffy’s sandaled feet as he pushes a massive snowball across the open field, the grooves and footprints in his wake deep and dark blue.  When it’s taller than he is, twice as broad, he packs together a smaller one in his hands and starts it rolling, rounding it out the way Usopp showed him, gloved hands scraping much more carelessly than their snipers would.  This one he hefts up over his head once he decides it’s big enough.  And there’s a brief moment when he turns and grins at Nami - she thinks he’s going to take a mean streak in his playfulness and throw it at her.

She flinches upright, flashing him a warning look, hands covering the notebook resting in her lap.

But he’s only making sure she’s looking.  He's being goofy and wants someone to see him flexing his muscles, of all things.  He pushes the snowball that's resting in his palms up over his head and eases it back down the way Zoro lifts his weights, the fabric of his sleeves tightening around his biceps.  Amused that he just wants attention, Nami props her chin in her hand and watches while he does this a few more times and then goes about assembling his ugly snowman.  When Luffy leaps from the top of it and jogs off into the sparse trees lining the edge of the field to find a good stick or two, Nami ducks her head, returning to the half-drawn map under her hands.

There’s more than enough light to see by; the moonlight light reflecting off the snow is bright as day, even as the hour creeps up toward midnight.

Nami checks her watch again, pulling it from the pocket of her coat.

"Are you sure this is where you told everyone to meet?" she calls, her voice carrying in the clear air.

She can hear Luffy rummaging in the trees, the snapping and crackling of branches in his wake as he climbs about like a monkey, the muffled sound of snow falling.

"Um," he says loudly, and Nami lifts her eyes to the sky, clipping her watch closed and pocketing it again.  She turns to look for him over her shoulder, shifting around on the fallen tree where she's been sitting a good half-hour, at least.  "Yeah!"

"Are you sure?" she asks again, an eyebrow arched.

Luffy comes out of the trees with an armload of sticks and a grin that goes on for miles.  There's snow dusting his dark hair, his hat hanging loose around his neck.

"Yeah," he says, and jerks his chin.  Nami follows the movement, sees where the field rises up in a small slope and another line of trees, the mountain peaks far behind them.  "They’re comin’ from that way, right?  Yeah.  So this is on the way."

It’s surprisingly perceptive of him, Nami thinks, watching him dump the pile of sticks near the base of his snowman and smack the front of his jacket off.  This spot sits almost directly between the coast where they dropped Sunny’s anchor this afternoon and the mountain village where the others are stealing away with supplies for their trip into the mountains.  The locals have sworn up and down that there's a temple hidden "somewhere to the North" with troves of crystals - that even one is worth a small fortune - and if there's one thing that can get the Straw Hat Pirates riled up it's the prospect of adventure and treasure.

Nami is giddy with anticipation, but she's kept her fingers crossed, too, that this isn't a silly folk tale of some kind, or that the phrase _ice crystals_ (which she hopes is an aesthetic on the part of the locals and not terribly specific), isn't lost in translation.  The people here can speak the common tongue, but it's with a heavier accent than Nami has ever heard, full of consonants banging against one another and rough, guttural words she doesn't recognize, that even Robin has a perplexing time placing.

The odd thing is, in the face of adventure, Luffy is as calm as the snowfall.

Nami hadn't really noticed it at first, when she wanted to detour back to the ship for her cartography tools and Luffy offered to come with her.

Now, she takes the time to.

This Luffy is just a little different than the Luffy she met two years ago.

She forgets that sometimes, until she really looks at him.  Nami smiles, tapping the eraser of her pencil against the paper.  In one of those rare moments, Luffy is being still.  He's standing in front of his snowman with his feet apart, ankle-deep in the snow, his hands low on his hips as he looks off to the side.  His hood is back, the rim of his hat resting in it, tipped at an angle.  Nami flips the pencil between her fingers, drops her eyes to her map and shuffles her stack of parchment around until she comes to a scrap sheet.

She starts drawing around the blots of smudged ink, tentative at first, and then with more purpose.

"Nami!"  She jumps, clapping her hand down over the drawing as she looks up.  She'd been focused on what she was doing, and Luffy has moved since she last looked up.  He's sitting on the head of his snowman - she sees that it has arms and a face, now, a broken smile made out of sticks.  Her captain is grinning broad enough to match as he points into the distance, turning to look at her, feet thumping excitedly against the snowman's torso.  "The others are coming!  Let’s go!"

It’s about that time she hears the others calling for them, sees the sleigh appear over the crest of a small hill and arms waving from all sides.

Luffy hops to the ground, quiet calm forgotten as he races to meet their friends, his eager  _ whoop _ echoing far across the snow.  Smiling, Nami flips her notebook closed and gets to her feet, shouldering her bag to follow him.

 


	28. humming tunelessly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for LuffyxNami Week, 2014! Day 3. Confession / "belly kisses"

Luffy gets stuck with guard duty the next time they make landfall - his own fault, really, for picking Rock every time, his logic being that "Rocks are tough, right, and you make them with a fist so that makes them extra tough."  Nami rolls her eyes, smiling at the memory of Luffy's outraged face after losing to six flat palms laying over his clenched fist.  He'd tried to argue, pulled the Captain Card, whined and pawed at everyone as they made preparations to leave the ship, hanging off Franky's massive hands and Zoro's arms, rumpling Sanji's suit jacket.  Robin politely reminded him that rules were rules and he had promised to uphold them when he moaned and laid across her back, his arms flopping over her shoulders and tugging at her hair.  Usopp dragged his captain halfway down the dock before Luffy finally let go of his ankles and gave it up for good.

Chopper and Brook swore to see sights and sample foods in his stead.

And while the sentiment was a nice (read: emotional, as it resulted in several minutes of tearful pinky swears), it still left Luffy in pretty low spirits.

Now he's sulking, sitting up on the gunwale by the slide, slumped over against his lap with his elbows between his knees and his chin resting in his hands.  His gaze wanders toward the port town, the bustling noise quieted by distance and the sounds of the sea rushing against Sunny's hull.

The poor thing's been itching for excitement and adventure for weeks and now he's right on the edge of it and still bored out of his mind.

Nami almost feels bad for him, watches out of the corner of her eye as his easy posture slowly becomes more restless when he starts drumming his heels against the side of the ship.  It's only a matter of time before he breaks and comes over to bother her.  She passed up a good opportunity to go clothes shopping with Robin just so he would have some company - though, if anyone asks, she's using the lull in the usual chaos to work on her charts.  Sanji set up a table for her (and a tall glass of pink lemonade, with accompanying pitcher and lemon slices) on the lawn, where she can take full advantage of the peace and quiet, the warm day and the low breeze coming in off the waves.

She puts her pencil between her teeth and flattens a chart out under her hands to study the lines she's made.  It's just a few minutes later that she hears a rustling sound.  Luffy slips off the gunwale, padding across the lawn.  He scuffs his feet behind her, making small, bored sounds before he drops to roll in the grass and bumps against the back of her chair.  Nami bounces her foot under the table and ignores him - ignores the way her chair shifts and wiggles when Luffy grabs the legs and pulls himself underneath it - ignores the hot, annoyed breath against her legs and the hands that reach up tentatively to touch her dangling foot.

It becomes impossible to ignore him when Luffy's fingertips flutter against the arch of her foot.  Nami squeals and jerks her leg up in surprise, hitting her knee against the underside of the table, the pitcher and glass rattling in protest, and Luffy giggles, a loud clear sound that fills the air.  Nami presses her lips together, fighting off a smile even though he can't see it.  She settles her leg back down, still crossed over the other, and shifts in her seat, holding her pencil well away from the paper while she waits and propping her chin in her hand.

There's a slight tug at the bottom of her pant leg, the rasp of Luffy worrying the hemline between his fingers.  It tickles her ankle and Nami half-heartedly bats her foot at him.  The tight fabric squeezes her calf when he grips the back of her ankle instead of letting go, and when his other hand slides up to the back of her knee, Nami doesn't kick him off.  Luffy lifts her leg, sets her foot on the ground on the other side of him - and Nami lets him push his shoulders between her knees.  She sits back in her seat, twirling her pencil around her fingers, and raises an eyebrow at him when he peeks out from under the edge of the table at her.

"Can I help you?" she asks, inclining her head with a small smile.

Her hair tumbles over her shoulder and Luffy's gaze follows it before darting back to her face.

He grins at her, all teeth and eye-crinkles.

"Nope," he says, and shifts himself closer, Nami's thigh sliding across his shoulder, brushing his neck, "I'm good."

Maybe Nami's breath hitches a little with the movement - maybe - but she's composed enough when she huffs, "Uh-huh."  Suspicious.  But composed.  She taps the tip of the pencil against the arm of the chair and waits, her eyes narrowing, because he's up to something.  She doesn't trust that grin.  Luffy only turns his face into her thigh and pretends to ignore her, humming tunelessly and staring at the bottom of the table, like that doesn't give him away entirely.

So after a few seconds Nami reluctantly does the same, leaning forward to prop her elbows on the table again.

It's hard even pretending to concentrate with Luffy constantly moving his jaw against the inside of her thigh, even through the jeans.  He inhales deeply and lets out a breath, the fabric and her skin cools and warms against his mouth and nose, and Nami's brow furrows.  She starts to pull back, a half-annoyed inquiry on the tip of her tongue, when Luffy suddenly pushes her chair back so there's enough room for him to squeeze between her and the table.  Luffy is in her lap before she even manages to grab the arms of the chair in surprise as she lurches slightly forward, his arms around her waist, thumbs plucking at her belt loops, his face against her bare stomach.

He hugs her tight, inhaling again, pressed firmly between her legs, and when he puffs out a sigh it's a happy one that makes her stomach flutter, her muscles jump.  Luffy's nose ghosts over her belly button, his teeth, when he grins, scraping against her navel.

Nami gasps,  _ "Luffy!" _ and he all but wrings an involuntary squirm, a breathy sigh, out of her when he  _ squeezes _ her tighter against him, nearly dragging her up out of the chair, his mouth open against her skin.  It takes her a few seconds to realized she's being  _ sniffed _ , the deep breaths that expand Luffy's chest taken in through his nose.  Nami squirms again, regardless, as he moves up a few inches, lips and nose brushing her stomach, the occasional graze of his teeth.

Luffy hums appreciatively, grinning broadly as he nuzzles the top of her stomach just below Nami's ribs, the top of his head pushing up against her breasts.

_ "Luffy," _ Nami hisses through her teeth, appalled and embarrassed when she finally gets ahold of herself.  She lets go of her iron grip on the arms of the chair and pushes at Luffy's shoulder, but he doesn't even budge.   _ "What're you doing -?" _

"You smell really good," Luffy says, laughing, his open mouth warming and wetting her skin.

It takes Nami a few seconds to process this, because Luffy shifts again, his fingers playing in the loops on the waistband of her jeans as his lips skim down the side of her stomach.  Her heart is pounding in her ears, her breath stuttering a bit, but her pulse starts to slow, because Luffy's quick movements do, almost as suddenly as they started.

"I  _ always _ smell like this," Nami manages to say, not as breathless as she expects to be and extremely grateful for it.

She feels the chuckle as it bubbles up in Luffy's chest, and what is unmistakably a sloppy kiss being pressed to her flushed skin.

"I know."  Luffy turns his face to the side, then, loosens his squid-like grip and relaxes, heaving out a contented sigh.  His hair tickles her stomach, one of his thumbs brushing her hip, just over the top of her jeans.  "I like that way you smell, anyway.  'S nice, like tangerines."

And just like that, he starts to doze - and Nami doesn't know whether to find this predicament offensive or endearing.  Damnit, he's being the world's biggest idiot, but at least he's honest.  She doesn't expect more from him than that, and settles for carding her fingers through Luffy's hair, realizes belatedly that she dropped her pencil in his assault and spots it lying on the grass several feet away.  Luffy is a heavy weight on her lap, though, and he nudges as close as he possibly can, still seated on the ground, his legs crossed loosely underneath her chair.

She isn't going to be getting up anytime soon and Nami decides - after Luffy hums again, softly, pulling her knee against his side with his elbow and then letting it fall away so there is some small lulling movement between them - that it really doesn't bother her.

 


	29. pouring out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written for LuffyxNami Week 2015! Day 2. Protect!

How the marine manages to get ahold of him is a mystery to Nami.

Maybe, in the midst of a light-hearted retreat from an army of weak-but-persistent marines, Luffy was careless.  Maybe the cadet just got lucky.  Either way, Nami is close enough to hear the  _ snap  _ of the sea prism stone cuffs closing around Luffy's wrist, to see it out of the corner of her eye.  Luffy goes face-down in the dirt with a grunt of surprise, his left arm twisted behind his back, the stone pole jamming between his shoulder blades.  Nami snaps her staff into threes and flips the resulting batons into their proper formation.

She swings her Clima-Tact, a chains of dark thunderheads lancing out.  The surrounding marines yelp in surprise because they haven't seen this technique yet - only wind blasts and obstructive clouds that they can't push through.  Those were merely inconveniences, hemming them in to aid the pirates' escape.

Now, Nami is angry.

Every marine within twenty feet of her drops in a charred heap, writhing as the lightning's current pulses through her bodies.  She hears Usopp ( _ "Hey, watch what you're doin' with that thing…!" _ ) and Sanji ( _ "That was electric, Nami-swan~!" _ ) as she hastens to where Luffy is still pinned down.  The lightning didn't hurt him, of course, but the hefty marine that caught him also collapsed on top of him.  Luffy has his free arm outstretched in front of him, his chin resting on the ground - the picture of misery.

"Thanks, Nami," he groans, the words pushing out like he can't quite get his breath.

Under all that weight and sea-stone, he probably can't.  Nami heaves the marine off of him, huffing, "Be more careful next time, you idiot!"

A slender hand blooms at her waist when she kneels beside Luffy, presenting the keys.  By the time Nami unlocks the cuffs and Luffy leaps to his feet, Zoro is running past, only bearing one sword to fend off enemy attacks, about fifty vengeful marines in his wake.

"You got him?" he calls to Nami.

"I got him!"

She throws the pole and handcuffs aside, scowling as they clatter on the ground.  The nerve of someone, cuffing  _ him _ .  Nami thinks, suddenly, if she ever has to see him in chains she wouldn't know what to do with all the rage shaking out of her body.  She turns on Luffy, then, to jab a finger in his chest.

_ Quit screwing around, _ she wants to say, in the same heavy way that Zoro has.  ( _ Stop making me worry! _ )

Luffy is righting his hat, fingers tugging at the straw rim to draw it down across his forehead.  When he lifts his head, he turns to her and grins, love and gratitude pouring out of him like water from an overturned basin.  He doesn't even have to say anything.

Nami huffs out a sigh through her nose, plants her hands on her hips.

"A rescue is 1,000 berries, you know!"

Luffy laughs, "Alright~"

 


	30. she was afraid and he was weak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strong World. prompt was: PLEASE COME GET ME

Something hot and heavy settles in his stomach when he hears Nami's voice coming out of that Dial.  His hands shake, and he grits his teeth, and he can't remember ever being  _ so angry _ in his life.

Maybe he messed something up somewhere along the way.

Maybe he did something wrong.

Maybe he was careless or stupid or all of these things -  _ it has to be something, doesn't it, damnit, because Nami doesn't think he can do it!  She doesn't think he can win! _  She left him, she left them all, because she was afraid and he was weak, and Luffy wants to scream and break something under the weight and rage the fills him up and pushes at his chest.  He wants to beat the hell outta that wheel-headed bastard for taking Nami away in the first place, for making her feel like there was no other choice, for tearing away the trust that he built!

Nami deserves to be happy - like Robin deserves friends, and Vivi deserves her country - and he defeated Arlong, and Crocodile, and  _ all of the others _ , but it wasn't enough and now - after everything - 

Nami doesn't believe in him…

And that hurts worse than anything.

-x-

Nami says what she does because she knows it will piss him off.

She doesn't believe a word of it, but she recites them all the same, with soft conviction so they boil his blood, and it comes so easy - she is surprised, and not surprised.  Mostly… she's afraid.

She knows that it's the only option she has, that it's only temporary.  It's just that  _ she doesn't want to go _ .  She never wants to go again, even if it's all an act - if hurts more than she expects it to, and she shouldn't have to do it in the first place.  Luffy has defeated everyone who stood in his way, anyone who threatened his friends or what they hold dear, and she hates the part of herself that sees him struggling against opponents who only seem to be getting stronger and stronger and thinks that maybe there are some things even he can't do.

But she knows, if she asks...

Nami hesitates, her fingers lingering on the Dial.

He's an idiot.  But she has a thief's quick hands.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw u forget to post the rest of your backlog! It's been a hot minute so i figured I would take a sec to say THANKS for all the positive reviews, even though i'm shit at responding I read and cry abt every single one of them!!
> 
> [my tumblr](http://bobtheacorn.tumblr.com) (hmu!!) [my ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/A8342UPQ) (♡)


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